What Should Have Happened
by Dadlop3
Summary: What happens when you combine some of the most popular Naruto fan fictions into a single story? Little changes in the plot creates an entirely new Naruto. Goodish Kyuubi. Strong Naruto. A retelling of the canon. First fanfic. Discontinued
1. Author Notes

Hey readers. This will be my first fan fiction story. I got this idea after reading about 30 Naruto fanfics. Basically, what I am doing is combining some of the stories that I've read into one single story. This will sort of be my version of what should have happened in the canon. You'll probably notice a few similarities now and then but before you send me an angry PM, all I have to say is that I got those ideas from the stories that I've READ and have permission from the authors to use them. Though it has been a week and some still haven't replied... Oh well.

List of authors who inspired my fanfics:

**Ackdam** – _Naruto One Man Team_

**Aragon Potter** – _The Hope of the Senju Clan_

**Dreetje** – _The Story of Uzumaki Naruto_

**hazeleyes180** \- _Outfoxed_

**Kenchi618** – _The Sealed Kunai_

**Psycho G** –_Neo Yondaime Hokage_

**Naruto-pwns-Kyuubi** – _ANBU BRAT_

**Noodlehammer **– _Reaching for a Dream_

**Shezza** – _Life in Konoha's ANBU_

**The Engulfing Silence** – _Shifts In Life_ and _Namikaze's Return Redux!_

**White Angel of Auralon** – _Dark Phoenix of Konoha_

I'll incorporate the Naruto movies in the story but that won't happen until later on. Also a few original arcs that I've read that I believe should have been in the canon *sigh*.

Naruto will be a ninjutsu specialist (he has the ability to make thousands of shadow clones to train and the chakra levels for ninjutsu. As Asuma said in one of the stories I've read, "He's a ninjutsu goldmine" or something) and skilled at using seals (the latter won't be until the time the Shippuden starts). He won't be godlike. That'll be boring because then he'll be winning most of the time. And that's just boring.

There will also be a ranking system based on skills because titles are not important. Naruto, a GENIN, can go toe to toe with S-Class ninjas and come out on top. Doesn't make any sense. The character's rank depends on their skills. It's like a GPA. Tally up the scores and the average is what rank they are. For example, I'm giving the ANBU that charged head on into the purple barrier Orochimaru made during the Chunin Exam arc a C-ranked ninja.

Several reasons:

1) It was made by Orochimaru's henchmen...

2) It was purple and dark and ominous looking. Why would you charge into that?

3) You're an ANBU… You're not suppose to charge in without thinking *facepalm*

**Ranking:**

E – Academy Student

D - Genin

C - Chūnin

B/A - Jōnin/ANBU

S – Kage Level

SS – Higher than Kage

Well that's all I have to say for now I guess. Hope you enjoy! Any feedback is much appreciated.

* * *

**Revised 4/11/2015 - Slight changes to ranking system and use of special characters (ō and ū). - Courtesy of BETA tester/reader SomeRandomBagel (SRB).**

**I labeled this as Chapter 1 because when people reviewed, the box on the right says chapter 1 and not the original title, Author's Notes. This is to help me not get confused when reading reviews.**


	2. Naruto Uzumaki

**Development Arc: 1 of 6.**

* * *

**Disclaimers: I do not own Naruto or any of the stories mention in Author's Notes.**

_12 years ago, a Nine-Tailed Fox suddenly appeared. Its ginormous tails swung wildly from behind, smashing mountains and sending tidal waves crashing into shores. The shinobi of Konohagakure fought valiantly to defend their home. Many were defeated and killed by the rampaging Kyūbi and losses kept escalating. When the village's leader, the Yondaime Hokage, finally appeared, Konoha had already lost 50% of their forces. Realizing there was no way to actually kill the Kyūbi, the Yondaime resorted to fuinjutsu. Because of the immense chakra, the Kyūbi could not be sealed into an adult whose chakra coils are fully developed. With a heavy heart, the Yondaime Hokage sealed the Kyūbi into a newborn child whose umbilical cord was cut only moments ago. Because of the technique the Yondaime used, his life was forfeited. His last dying wish was for the villagers of Konoha to regard the baby as a hero. His wish, however, fell on deaf ears…_

* * *

**5 Years after the Incident...**

After the defeat of the Kyūbi, the people of Konoha have been working days and nights to rebuild what used to be a prosperous village. Shinobi who were out on missions during the attack rushed home to increase the village's security. Many of them, however, have been taking missions after missions to prove that Konoha still stand strong. Merchants come and go, bringing new merchandises as well as any worth-mentioning gossips. New buildings began replacing the ones destroyed during the attack.

With the lost of the Yondaime Hokage, the Sandaime Hokage was forced out of retirement to assume the role until a replacement was found. The Council, which exists to advise the Hokage, became corrupted. The Sandaime have been past his prime time and is now most commonly viewed as a kind old man. Most of the Council have forgotten that he was once known as "The God of Shinobi". There are 20 seats in the Council: eight goes to the civilian side, eight to the shinobi side, three goes to the Hokage's personal advisers, and one for the Hokage himself. With the death of the Yondaime's family, there was a vacant seat in the shinobi side, thus creating an unbalance of power

After the Kyūbi attack, the Sandaime passed a decree forbidding people from speaking of the demon sealed inside of the boy with the penalty of death. It was passed immediately after the beast was sealed within him. He hoped that by preventing the news of the boy being the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi, he will be able to form bonds with children his own age and live a normal life. Suffice to say, hindsight was always 20-20.

Hatred for the Kyūbi ran deep within their veins. The civilian clans mistreated and abused the boy while the shinobi clans chose to act neutral, neither helping nor harming him. Most of the time the Council was held to discuss his fate. Some proposed to turn him into a weapon (three people wanted this. Can you guess who?), some favored to just get rid of him. Like every other time, it was the civilian side who brought up these trivial issues. The Sandaime, as well as the Shinobi Clan Heads, grew tired of these repetitive meetings and only wished for it to end. Sadly, however, they lacked the power to do so.

Parents told their children to stay away and not associate with him. While the children did not know the reason behind such warnings, they obeyed their parents regardless. Shops overcharged his items and some even forbid him from entering. People sent hateful glares, names, and verbally abused him. Even at the orphanage where he resides, the caretakers occasionally "forgot" about his well-being.

The boy who people treated as the plague.

The boy who was supposed to be regarded as the village's hero.

The boy whose very existence was denied.

The boy with three whisker marks on each side of his face.

The boy with blue eyes and blond, spiky hair with ears and a face structure that resemblance two of Konoha's most respected and feared shinobi.

The boy whose name was Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

**9 Years after the Incident...**

A young boy in an orange jumpsuit is seen walking down the street. He has blue eyes and blond, spiky hair. On his face are six whisker marks, three on each side. His stomach growls as he searched for a place that will let him eat. He was recently kicked out of the orphanage for "misconduct". When he brought it up to the caretakers that he was not the one who did the crime, which involves stealing food from their plates, they kicked him out and wouldn't hear another word of it. He never saw the relief looks on their faces when he opened the door and left.

On the streets, the populace of Konoha began whispering among themselves as they saw him.

"Hey look, it's that boy."

"Yeah. I can't believe he's still around."

"Doesn't he contain the-"

"Shhh. We're not supposed to talk about it."

"Talk about what mommy?"

"Nothing. Just stay away from him."

Naruto lowers his head as he continued his search, trying his best to not let the glares and harsh words get the better of him. He never did understood why people would so be cruel. In fact, he has seen criminals receiving better treatment.

_'Why do people avoid me like I'm some sort of disease? What did I ever do to them?'_ so distracted by his thoughts that he did not see who he was walking into until he bumped into them and stumbled back. Assuming they would just yell and hit him for "causing trouble", like always, he pay them no heed and began dusting himself off.

"Hello there Naruto-kun," an old man greeted. He noticed that Naruto wasn't paying attention and was just standing there with his head down. "What's wrong?"

Naruto snapped out of his musing and turned toward the voice. It was a man in his late sixties. On his face were a few noticeable liver spots, wrinkles and a mole on his left nostril. The man wore a red, full-length kimono tied with a white sash. On his head was a hat with the kanji for fire engraved. Upon realizing that it was the Sandaime, "Hey jiji! Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

The Sandaime noticed the sadness in his eyes but for the time being, he decided not to bring it up. "That's fine Naruto-kun. Where are you heading?"

As if on cue, Naruto's stomach rumbled. He ducked his head to avoid the embarrassing blush spreading across his face. "I was looking for food."

That caught the Sandaime's attention. Last he heard Naruto was in the orphanage. They must be feeding him. Right?

"Did you not get enough to eat at the orphanage?" asked the Sandaime. Naruto muttered something that sounded, "More like they never give me anything to eat..." Unfortunately, he heard what Naruto had said and made plans on visiting the place for a _talk._ "Well, I heard there's a good ramen place up ahead. Would you like to join me Naruto-kun?"

Naruto perked up and looked at the Sandaime with wide eyes. "YES!" he shouted with much enthusiasm. Ramen is his favorite food after all.

As they walked down the street to the noodle stand together, Naruto was bouncing around shouting what he thinks the ramen will taste like, completely oblivious to the stares he was getting. The Sandaime, however, noticed the hateful looks in the villagers' eyes. He recalled the Yondaime's dying wish and how he couldn't fulfill his promise. A pang of guilt spread throughout his body as he lowers his gaze toward the ground, his hat shadowing over his eyes. It wasn't Naruto's fault the villagers couldn't tell the difference between a container and its contents. He made a promise to himself that from now on, he will give Naruto the treatment he deserves. Though the civilian council might oppose, any relief to Naruto's current condition was well worth it.

They approach a stand with red lanterns with the fire kanji carved on it. Separate curtains hang from the entrance but only reaches halfway toward the ground for privacy. The name "Ichiraku Ramen" were painted across the curtains. As they enter the stand, they saw a man in a white cooking robe with a white hat with the kanji "Chef" carved in red. He was around mid forties with short, black hair with a few gray strands. He was cleaning the dishes when they walked in. When he turned to greet the costumers and saw who they were, he was shocked.

"Hokage-sama!" He bowed. "I never expected to see you here."

The Sandaime nodded slightly. "Well, I was taking a walk when I ran into Naruto-kun here." He made a gesture toward Naruto. "I was hoping if you could serve us both some ramen."

The chef, whose name was Teuchi, nodded, before turning around. "Ayame! We got costumers! Can you take their orders? I'm going to handle the broth."

"Alright dad!" came a young voice from the back who started making her way to the front. Ayame was a 14 years old slender girl with long, brown hair and eyes, and fair skin. She wears a white robe with the sleeves folded, a sort of dark blue apron with ribbon ties at the top and a bright white bandanna. When she saw the Hokage, she had the same reaction as her father. "Hokage-sama!" she greeted with a bow. When her eyes move from the Hokage's to Naruto's, the two of them stared at each other in curiosity. Confused by what she was staring at, he tilt his head. "KAWAII!" Before Naruto knew what was happening, Ayame appeared right beside him and started hugging him to death. "Aww he's so cute!"

Naruto was so startled by the suddenly embrace that he didn't know what to do. This was the first time he had physical contact with someone else who didn't want to hurt him. He was so unsure of what to do that he froze in place with his face bright red in embarrassment. A few moments passed before Ayame finally released him and started running her fingers through his whiskers. "I've never seen these kind of birthmarks before." Against his will, Naruto began purring and leaning into her hand. Of course, this was the wrong thing to do when around any females. "KAWAII!" And Naruto suddenly found himself back into a death hug.

The Sandaime looked at the scene with a very amused smile. He made sure to remember every details of this scene so that he could tease Naruto about it later.

* * *

**11 Years after the Incident...**

The Sandaime was in Naruto's apartment, giving him his allowance for the month and advising him on what he should spend it on. After the orphanage had kicked him out, the Hokage managed to pull a few strings and allowed Naruto to live in his own apartment as well as grant him entry into the Ninja Academy. When the villagers heard where he was living, they began exiting the premises. The landlord wanted to deny Naruto the room but one stern look from the Hokage told him otherwise. Since then, the entire complex was empty save for it one occupant.

To say things been quiet since then would be a major understatement. The civilian council rejected the idea of the boy being anywhere near their children. The Hokage said a few _convincing words_ that persuaded them otherwise. Even though Naruto went to the Ninja Academy, he was still mistreated thanks to the parents who "advised" their children to stay away from him. Nevertheless, Naruto took what they dished out and came back with smiles on his face.

The following years were quite interesting. There was this one incident involving the Hyūga heiress, Hinata Hyūga. Naruto apparently stood up for the Hyūga heiress when she was bullied by a few students. He found her trembling and on the verge of tears as the offenders kept going with their verbal abuse. Naruto told the bullies to pick on someone else and they did. He took the beating and as a result, they forgot about the heiress. However, when a clan member arrived on the scene, he saw a crying Hinata and the battered and beaten demon boy laying on the ground. He told the heiress to stay away from the boy before he dragged her away from him. Her pleadings of how Naruto came to her rescue and how he was injured because of her fell on deaf ears. They later came into the Sandaime's office asking him to pass on their gratitude to Naruto for saving Lady Hinata. They then told the Sandaime how fierce and adamant Hinata was in wanting to give the boy her thanks and how far she was going to do it. The Hyūgas had never saw such a fierce look on an 11-years-old girl's face, or the unimaginable pain that promised to come if her request was denied. Suffice to say, they never wanted to be on the receiving end of that look ever again.

Then came the incident that happened in the forest. Konoha patrols came across enemy spies and a battle had ensued. The place was then placed off-limits but somehow Naruto got in. Not only that, he managed to recover a special kunai which held a piece of paper with details on Konoha's security routes. Not mentioning the fact he was then chased by three enemy kunoichi who were send to retrieve those plans. Several near-death encounters occurred as Naruto ducked and weaved through the hail of kunai and shurikens. Iruka Umino, one of the teachers back at the Ninja Academy, headed out after Naruto after hearing from the Nara's heir, who goes by the name of Shikamaru Nara, the agreement that took place between Naruto and a group of boys. Iruka managed to find Naruto, but also his three pursuers. When all hope was lost and they were beginning to lose ground, a team of Jōnin led by a man with a mask and silver hair came to their rescue.

Needless to say, when Naruto told him the story, he was impressed, disappointed, and could feel a headache coming. The reason why Naruto was there in the first place was because of an agreement Naruto made with a group of boys. They knew he wanted to make friends so in order for him to join their group, they told Naruto to go into the forest and find the corpses. Iruka, perhaps the only teacher who saw Naruto as a human, punished the boys severely for the prank they pulled.

_'It was ironic really.' _The Hokage began musing._ 'With what Naruto had done, it is well within his right to be called a hero. First, by keeping the Kyūbi sealed within him, he's preventing the kitsune from rampaging in the village. Second, because of his forgiving nature, Naruto is not going on a killing spree, which is what most people would have done had they had been in his situation. Third, by recovering the note that was attached to the special kunai, Naruto had just prevented the village from a possible invasion. And yet, the village still sees Naruto as nothing more than a demon.'_ The Sandaime exhales. It will be some time until Naruto gain the recognition and respect he deserves. Thinking back to the Hokages before him, specifically the Yondaime, he wonder if he could somehow reverse the outcome. What would life have been if it was the Yondaime who survived and not the Sandaime, who time has long pass? He exhaled again. '_I'm sorry the village did not honor your wishes Minato. Truly I am.'_

* * *

**12 Years after the Incident...**

It was a beautiful morning. The sunlight covering Konohagakure cast an amber color tint. The sky was blue with a few clouds. The villagers were busy setting up their shops for the day. Everybody greeted one another with a smile on their face. The fresh smell of morning food filled the village as everyone prepared for the work. Life was normal. It was as if the Kyūbi attack never happened. Yes. Life was perfect. Well almost...

"NARUTO!"

A single sound of laughter could be heard echoing throughout the village.

"Get back here you brat!"

"Haha no! Catch me if you can!"

The spectators sighed. It seems the village's number one hyperactive knucklehead was up and already causing mischief. When Naruto started attending the Ninja Academy, his pranking days also started. Since then, the village experienced a series of pranks coming from the blond devil himself. Yes... It was another one of those days...

Currently running from his pursuers, our blond hero was carrying a bucket of paint. Moments ago, he just painted the Hokage Monument in board daylight while wearing a hideous orange jumpsuit. On his head were a pair of goggles which he now wore wherever he went. The Hokages used to be a symbol of pride for the village. But now, Naruto made a mockery of each and every Hokages. White paint symbolized drool, green for snot, and then a mixture of colors for random symbols painted on their faces. It wasn't a pretty sight.

The pursuers composed of Chūnin had yet to capture the Prankster King from Hell himself, as he was known throughout the village. The blond teenager ran at full speed and made a sharp turn at the corner. Seconds later, the pursuers made the same turn and lost him.

"Where did he go?"

"This way. I think I saw something."

When the pursuers left, the fence they were near moved. Naruto removed his camouflage cloak, happy to once again deceive his pursuers. He laughed. "That was too easy." He grinned. He didn't noticed the shadow standing behind him.

"Oh yeah Naruto?!" shouted the mystery person. When Naruto heard that voice, he knew just who that was. Iruka Umino. He is a man of average height and build. He has brown hair that he keeps in a ponytail, dark eyes and a scar that runs across the bridge of his nose — which he has had since his youth. He wears the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with headband, sandals, and flak jacket. His sleeves are also rolled up about ¼ way.

Still, knowing the voice didn't help calm the fact that Iruka had snuck up on him so Naruto ended up jumping in the air and landed on his butt.

Turning around, "Oh hey Iruka-sensei!" He had a cheeky smile. "I found you!" He pointed dramatically at Iruka.

"Baka! I'm the one who found you! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in class," said Iruka while tapping his foot.

"Ah well you see sensei. I was on my way to class when a black cat across my path so I had to walk the long way around it," answered a sheepish Naruto scratching his head. Both of them knew what happened but it was still a routine of theirs. Iruka would catch Naruto and Naruto would pretend not to know what he did and/or occasionally make excuses.

* * *

Somewhere in Konoha, a silver-haired Jōnin who was paying his respect at the Memorial Stone sneezed. "Hmm. Why do I have a sudden urge to buy a blond kid all the ramen he wants?" After a moment he shrugged. "Oh well. I still got an hour left until the meeting." And resumed staring at the names engraved in the memorial.

* * *

Back in the academy, Naruto was tied to a chair, forced to listen to Iruka's lecture.

"... And that's why you shouldn't ditch class. You understand Naruto?" Naruto hmphed, causing Iruka to sigh. "Just take your seat. We're about to begin our graduation exam." Iruka untied Naruto and waited until he got to his seat. When he got there, Iruka continued. "Alright class. It's time for the graduation exam. In order to pass, each student must successfully perform the Body Replacement, Clone, and Transformation Technique. With that said, when your name is called, please step into the adjacent classroom."

One by one the names were called. Naruto anxiously waited for his turn thinking how this year would be his time to shine. This will be his fourth time taking the graduation exams. He failed his other three tries but he still felt confident about it. After all, fourth time the charm right? Or something like that. His name being called snapped him out of his daydreams. While it was Naruto's turn and he was nervous, he tried his best not to show it. After failing the exams three times before, he was determined to pass it this time. As he got up and left, he never noticed the Hyūga heiress poking her finger together with a pink tint on her face silently wishing him good luck.

As he enters the room, he spotted Iruka and his assistant sitting behind a table with hitai-ate on top. Each held a clipboard and a pen in their hands.

"Ok Naruto. Whenever you're ready," signaled Iruka.

He nodded. "Transform!" A pop of smoke appear and when it was disperse, it was a replica of Iruka himself.

After carefully analyzing the fake, he nodded. "Good." A pop signaled that Naruto dispel the transformation. "Next."

With another pop of smoke, he replaced himself with a broom that was at the corner.

"Very nice. And finally, the Clone Technique."

_'Ok you can do this,'_ he thought confidently. Putting his hands together to form the ram seal, "Clone Technique!"

A pop of smoke appeared and when it dispersed, next to Naruto laid a pale and nearly dead looking clone. Naruto had a sheepish look while praying to kami-sama he passed.

Iruka's eyebrows twitched and he sighed. "I'm sorry Naruto but I can't pass you." Naruto hung his head in sadness.

"Maybe you should give him a break Iruka. He's really trying," came from Mizuki, his blue-haired assistant.

"The other students were able to perform all three techniques flawlessly. Naruto can only perform two and his clone is pathetic. Just look at it." He turned and once again look at the clone. He then shook his head. "I'm sorry but I can't let him pass. It'll wouldn't be fair."

Naruto lowered his head even further and started walking out.

Outside of the academy were each students' parents. They came to congratulate their children for passing. Meanwhile, one blond hair kid was sitting on a swing in the shadows of a tree with a downward gaze. Parents were whispering among themselves when they saw him.

"Hey, did you hear? It seems he failed again."

"Serves him right. Just think about what would happen if he actually passed."

"Yeah. Doesn't he have the-"

"Shh. We're not supposed to talk about that."

His mood worsen. He lowered his gaze to the ground even more, unaware of the person approaching him.

"Hey Naruto."

He looked up and saw Mizuki standing there with a compassionate look on his face. "What is it, Mizuki-sensei?"

"You know, there is another way for you to pass."

He perked up. "Really? What is it?"

Mizuki smiled. Neither one noticed the presence of Iruka and the Sandaime watching the whole exchange nearby.

* * *

It was midnight. There was a full moon in the sky. The white surface reflected enough light into Konoha that there were no need for lanterns to see. Near the Hokage building, which was located near the Ninja Academy, a shadow slowly made it way toward the building. Night patrols are unaware of the intruder as they made their rounds across the village. When the patrols disappeared from sight, the shadow moved in.

Sneaking in the building was easier than he had thought. Making his way down the corridor, he arrived at his destination. There in the room, stood the Scroll of Sealing. "So this is what Mizuki want," said the mysterious shadow. Picking it up, he slowly made his way out. Just then he heard a voice that made him froze in his place.

"Naruto? What are you doing?"

Turning around, he came face to face with the Sandaime Hokage. Thinking fast, he performed a hand sign.

"Transform!" A pop of smoke appear and with it came with a sight that the Hokage never expected. Within the smoke appear a nude female. The woman had long blond hair tied up in pigtails that goes to the waist. Smoke barely covered the female's assets as she took a seductive pose. Whisker marks made the woman appear more exotic and desirable. "Hokage-sama," she said in a sensual and laden tone completed with a wink and blowing a kiss.

The reaction? Two big blood geysers coming out of his nose as he knocked his head on the wall. One might be surprised if he didn't died from blood loss. Though, considering he's the "God of Shinobi", he might live. Maybe.

Not being the one to stay and find out, Naruto ran as quickly and quietly as he could. Not once did he thought back on how effective his technique was if he had caught the Sandaime with it.

* * *

A shadow was moving high speed through the forest. All that can be see was a large scroll attached to his back and an orange jumpsuit. Moving out into a clearing in the forest, he arrived next to a shed. Taking the scroll off of his back, he begin reading the first technique.

_Shadow Clones Technique - Similar to the basic Clone Technique, this technique creates exact copies of the user. However, these clones are corporeal instead of illusions. The user's chakra is evenly distributed among every clone, giving each clone an equal fraction of the user's overall power. The clones are capable of performing techniques on their own but will usually disperse after being hit by a strong enough force. The clones can also disperse on their own or be dispelled by the user of the technique. Shadow clones can't be distinguished from the original without special abilities. Shadow clones also seem to be able to think for themselves and can feel the original's pain to some extent and vice versa. There are also secrets abilities that the user must find out themselves._

"Aww great. This is my worst technique!" whined Naruto. "Oh well. Might as well get started."

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

"Where is he?"

"He's gone too far!"

"Stealing the Scroll of Sealing is not a prank! It's treason!"

The shinobi started panicking among themselves. The Scroll of Sealing contains many forbidden techniques that if used in the wrong hands, would cause the death and destruction of many and possibly, all inhabitants of Konoha and Konoha itself. It's a very scary thought indeed.

The Hokage stepped out of the building, making his way toward the assembled shinobi. Their attention turned toward their leader as he approached them. Blowing out a puff from his pipe, "Alright. Bring Naruto here at once!"

"HAI!" and that, everybody scattered. Blurs were seem across town, moving at high speed. The manhunt has begun.

A panting Iruka briefly stops on top of a building. '_Where would he go?'_

In another part of town, Mizuki is on the hunt with a sinister smile on his face. '_Now that I've told everyone what Naruto did, I can eliminate him. They'll be glad he's gone. Then, of course, I'll keep the scroll for myself.'_

* * *

Panting heavily, Naruto had just finished performing the technique. His jumpsuit is all dirty and he's currently on the ground trying to catch his breath. Iruka appears and made his way toward Naruto.

"I've finally found you," said Iruka as he towers over Naruto with his hands on his hips.

Looking up, he gave his sensei a smile and scratched his head. "I guess you've found me. You're pretty fast Iruka-sensei. I've only have time to learn one technique!"

Observing his surrounding, he noticed how exhausted his student was and could guess how hard he worked. The only times he ever saw how hard Naruto worked was when he was running from the authorities. '_If only he applies that to his academics,'_ he mused.

"So does that mean I pass sensei?" Naruto asked, snapping Iruka out of his musing. "I mean, that's the rule isn't it? Anyone who can learn a technique from this scroll passes!"

"Huh?" Eyes widen. "Where did you get that idea from?" He had a sudden suspicion that Naruto was somehow tricked. His suspicions was confirmed with Naruto's answer.

"Mizuki-sensei told me about it. He told me about this place and how to get the scroll..."

Whistling were heard from behind. Pushing Naruto out of the way, he took the brute force of the projectiles. Luckily, all of the kunai and shurikens missed any vital spots.

"I see. So that how it is," said an injured Iruka. "I should have known."

Mizuki came into view, squatting on a branch. Attached to his back were two fuma shurikens. "Naruto! Give me the scroll now!"

Completely confused at the current situation, "Wait a minute. What's going on here?"

Pulling out a kunai embedded in his legs and wincing from the pain, "Naruto, don't let Mizuki get the scroll! It contains forbidden techniques that can put this village in grave danger!" Still panting, "Mizuki used you to get the scroll for himself. You mustn't let him get his hands on it!"

Mizuki gave a sly smile. "Naruto. Iruka just trying to scare you because he doesn't want you to have to scroll."

"Quit lying Mizuki!" shouted Iruka

A chuckle escaped Mizuki's mouth. "Oh I'll tell you who been lying. They've been lying to you your whole life, since the decree 12 years ago." Seeing the questioning look on Naruto's face, he continued. "Everybody knows except you. Iruka is trying to hide it from you even now. He'll do anything to shut me up." Ignoring Iruka's shouts, "The decree is the Kyūbi is inside you." Naruto's eyes widen. "The Kyūbi that nearly destroyed Konoha and killed Iruka's parent is inside you. You are the Kyūbi!"

It was at this moment that Naruto's world came crashing down. He remembered all the harsh sneers and glares sent his way. All of the abuse that happened whenever he's in a store or on the street. All of the harsh whispers people spoke around him, about him, and how they passed it down to their children. It suddenly all made sense... Every single one of them believed he was the Kyūbi... He never got the sense to prove otherwise. He stood there, frozen like a statue. His mind running a mile an hour, recalling every harsh treatment he received in his life.

So deep in his thoughts that he never noticed the fuma shuriken coming his way until Iruka pushed him down on the down and got on top of him, taking the full force of the impact.

"Why? Why would you do that?" asked Naruto, completely unsure of what to do at this point.

Iruka recalled the conversation he had with the Sandaime, about why Naruto behaved the way he did. Tears started running down his face. "Because we're the same. When I lost my parents, no one seem to care. They didn't have time for me. They just forgot about me. My grades dropped. I became the class clown. I just wanted them to see me, to acknowledge me. My grades weren't good enough to get their attention so I did crazy things. And then I had to pay for it. It was miserable. I know how you feel Naruto. You feel lonely and it hurts inside, and I couldn't be there for you more. I'm sorry. I let you down. No one deserves to suffer that much."

Standing in the tree, Mizuki started chuckling and then laughing. "Iruka is just saying that. His parents were killed by the Kyūbi sealed inside of you. He'll say anything to get the scroll back."

Deciding he had heard enough, Naruto made dash into the forest, completely ignoring Iruka calling his name.

* * *

Upon resting against a tree, Naruto heard noises. It sounded like two people hitting the ground. Soon, he heard chatters and realized it was his both of his sensei.

"You know Iruka, Naruto is a lot like me."

"How's that?"

"He wants the scroll for his own vengeance. That's how beasts are. He'll channel all of his rage into the scroll and use it to destroy Konoha."

"You're right," Naruto felt his heart breaking with that statement. He realized Iruka was just like the rest, who only saw him as the kitsune. "That is how beasts are." Naruto's eyes widen. "But that's not who Naruto is. Naruto is a unique and hardworking individual. Sure he's goofy and everyone jokes on him, but his sufferings only makes him stronger. That what makes him different from a beast. He's nothing like the Kyubi. He's Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure." At this point Naruto felt tears coming down his cheeks.

Staring at Iruka in disbelief, "You know," Mizuki reached for his last fuma shuriken, "I was thinking of saving you for last but now I've changed my mind." The shuriken detached from just back and Mizuki posed, ready to throw. "Die!"

_'So this is it,'_ Iruka mused. He had a wry smile on his face, willingly accepting his fate.

Just as Mizuki was about to throw the shuriken, an orange blur came out of nowhere and tackled him, completely throwing the shuriken off course. The orange blur was Naruto, who had set the scroll aside and had a fierce and determined look on his face. "If you ever lay a hand on my sensei, I'll kill you!" He snarled the last part.

"Such big words." Mizuki taunted. "I can completely destroy you. Let see what you can do Kyūbi!"

Making the cross sign, "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

Smoke began to fill the area, making Iruka's eyes widen. When the smoke cleared, there stood in the forest were hundreds, if not thousands, of Narutos. Mizuki was also having a difficult time comprehending the situation.

The clones taunted him. "If you're not coming, we're going to come to you!" All of the clones sudden diverge on Mizuki. When all of the clones were dispelled, there on the ground laid a bruised, beaten, and battered body. "Sorry," apologized Naruto while having a sheepish look on his face and scratching his head. "I got carried away."

Iruka chuckled. "Naruto, come here. I want to give you something." Naruto complied and began walking toward his sensei. "Now close your eyes," As he closed his eyes, he felt his goggles being removed and replaced with something with a metal surface. "Congratulation." Iruka smiled. "You are now a Konoha shinobi." Naruto's small smile increased until it threatened to split his face. So Naruto did the one thing he could to express his gratitude. He tackled the injured Iruka into a hug, completely forgetting Iruka was injured. "Haha alright Naruto that's enough. We'll celebrate later. We have to return the scroll to the Hokage."

Naruto's expression did an almost complete 180 in an instant. His happiness was gone and now he had a worried expression on his face. "Iruka-sensei, wouldn't I get in trouble for this?"

Iruka shook his head. "No Naruto. You were tricked into believing something that was a lie. It wasn't your fault. I'm sure the Hokage will understand." Naruto nodded slowly and the two began their journey back into the village with an almost unrecognizable body in tow.

* * *

Upon entering the office, Naruto noticed that the Hokage was looking at him with understanding eyes, not one filled with hatred or disappointment, as Iruka gave him his report. Actually, his eyes are more like sadness and relief? Shaking out his thoughts, he walked forward and handed the Hokage the scroll. Afterward, he dove into the Hokage's robe and started crying.

"There there Naruto-kun. It's ok," comforted the Hokage.

Sniffling, Naruto pulled away from the Hokage and wiped the tears off his face. "Sorry Hokage-jiji. I didn't mean to get your robes wet. Or get snot on them."

The Sandaime had a sweat drop on his head as well as Iruka and the hidden ANBU. '_Of all the things he could have apologized for' -_ "Wait, snot?" The Hokage looked at his robes and yes, there were snots. He shook his head and looked back up. "Never mind. Not the point." Naruto chuckled. "Tell me Naruto, how are you feeling?"

"Well, to be fair, a part of me is relieved to hear the reason why I was treated so badly." The Hokage and Iruka lowered their gaze when they heard that. "But another part of me is angry because they're blaming me for something I had no control over. Why did the Yondaime sealed the Kyūbi inside me jiji? Do you know the reason?" asked Naruto.

Realizing he couldn't tell Naruto the whole truth, he decided to tell part of it. "In order for the Kyūbi to be sealed, an undeveloped chakra system was required. Moments before the kitsune was sealed, you were born. The Yondaime believed that you'd one day learn to control the Kyūbi and use its power. His last dying wish was for the villagers to regard you as a hero. Sad to say his wishes were denied." He shook his head. "The pain and suffering that the kitsune caused were too great to be forgotten. That was why I issued a decree forbidding people from speaking of the kitsune in hopes that you'll forge bonds with people among your age. I'm sad to admit the parents passed on their will of hatred through their children."

Questions came up in Naruto's mind. Choosing the ones he considered to be important, he asked, "But you said the Kyūbi was sealed inside me jiji. Why are they still afraid of that? I mean I'm not hurting anyone or anything."

Puffing from his pipe, he answered, "Because people always fear what they don't understand Naruto-kun. Many believed that because of its immense power, the seal was not strong enough to hold back the beast. Many believe that you are its reincarnation. Their hatred for the kitsune were channeled at you because you hold the beast within you. By mistreating you, they feel as though they are getting back at the beast who was responsible for the deaths of their loved ones. I confess that it is sad people cannot tell the difference between a kunai and a sealed one." He shook his head.

Naruto looked down, recalling all of the memories of his childhood. His fists clenched. _'How can people be so stubborn? Why can't they see that I'm not the Kyūbi_ _but instead his jailer?'_ The two occupants in the room, as well as the three hidden ANBU, looked at him with worried expressions, hoping he wouldn't plot his revenge, though they probably deserved it. After a moment, Naruto looked up, his face was full of determination. "Well if that how people think of me, then I'm going to change it." The Hokage and Iruka's eyes widen. "By becoming Hokage people will acknowledge me as Naruto Uzumaki, not the Kyūbi reincarnated. I don't care how long it takes! And if people still oppose, I'll change their image of me! I'll make them acknowledge me, even if I have to die to do so."

When he was finished with his speech, there was a moment of silence before the Hokage started chuckling. "Well, you sure do have the spirit to make it happen Naruto-kun. But I'm afraid you do not have the skills nor the knowledge."

Naruto took those words into consideration as he remembered the ninja academy. The teachers, except Iruka, were treating him the same as the villagers. He also remembered how his tests were different from the other students'. "Hey jiji. I think the teachers at the academy set me up to fail. I mean, now that I know the reason for all of the hatred they point at me, I thought back to the academy. Most of the teachers there mistreat me like the villagers and gave me different tests as well."

When Naruto had said this, Iruka was now regretting not paying more attention to Naruto. The Hokage however, "Thank you for informing me of this Naruto-kun. I'll see to it that tomorrow morning, I'll visit the academy to have a _talk_ with those teachers." The way the Hokage emphasized "talk" sent a shiver down their spines. "And I'll also see to it that you'll learn what you should have learned by your instructors, if not more." Reaching into his desk, he pulled out a piece of paper and begin writing on it. "Here. Tomorrow you'll go to the library and give them this note. They should let you in. If not, tell them to take it up with me." Reaching into his desk again, he pulled out a scroll. "Also, for playing a role in the capturing of a traitor and returning a priceless item of Konoha, I hereby present you with the completion of your first B-ranked mission." After he finished writing, he pulled out an envelope. "Here is your payment Naruto-kun. You might want to use it to have a change of outfits and get some new shinobi gears."

Naruto frowned. "I would jiji but the stores kicked me whenever I enter. And when they don't, they overcharge me on my items, saying something about "demon taxes" and that I had to pay for it." The room temperature dropped several degrees when Naruto had finished.

"Naruto-kun," the Sandaime spoke calmly, "and Iruka. Meet me here in my office tomorrow morning so we can go find a store where you can buy supplies." '_And also tell you the secret behind the __Shadow Clone Technique__. Telling him now would be a waste since he needs his rest from his long day, and it's midnight already.'_

"Hai jiji/Hokage-sama!" came the responses. Though Naruto received an eye twitch from Iruka. He responded by giving him his mega watt smile.

"That would be all. Dismiss." As they left, he sighed. He truly was getting too old for this. He looked over at the Yondaime picture. "Why do I get the feeling you're mocking me Minato?" As if the picture was alive, the Yondaime's smile widen.

* * *

After getting home, Naruto did his bedtime routines then plopped onto bed. '_Today was exhausting'._ Mentally that is, there was no way for him to be physically tired with the amount of chakra he held. Slowly, he began to fall asleep.

Opening up his eyes, he saw what appears to be a sewer. The walls were at least several stories high and had an eerie glow on them. Following the source, it came from in front of what appears to be a giant gate. Naruto had a sneaking suspicion what that was behind the gate and where he was. It was confirmed the moment he saw the kanji for seal written at the center, serving as a lock.

Every instinct and sense in his body told him to stay away but being Naruto, he walked forward. Within the darkness of the cage, he saw two glowing, red-silted eyes staring at him. Soon, there appeared a fox-like grin which, surprising, also glowed in the dark. In what appears to be a growl, the beast behind the cage spoke.

**"So, my jailer has finally come."**

* * *

**Revised 4/6/2015 - Grammar, spelling, and dialogue issues. Added a small mention of the ANBU. Minor changes. Should flow easier now. And added a few fun facts below. Previous versions had the same problems and changes.**

**Revised 4/12/2015 - Grammar, spelling, dialogue. Changing the way things are set out (e.g. jutsu underlined, thoughts have ' to show start and end). Making flow better. - Courtesy of my new BETA reader/tester, SomeRandomBagel (SRB).**

**Revised 5/8/2015 - Spelling, Grammar, you know, the usual. **

**Revised 6/13/2015 - Added arc.**

**Revised 1/1/2016 - The usual.**

**Name: Naruto Uzumaki**

**Age: 12**

**Birthday: October 10th**

**Rank: E+**

**Titles: Genin, Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead, Prankster King from Hell, Jinchuriki**

**Affiliation: Konohagakure**

**Taijutsu: E**

**Ninjutsu: D-**

**Genjutsu: E**

**Other Skills: D**

**The stats is for people (like me) who wants to know Naruto's progress and other fun facts like his titles.**

**I had to add those events involving the forest and saving Hinata in because they only mentioned those events happening in **_**Naruto Shippuden**_** and I wanted a complete ish timeline of the events.**

**I'm also not using the Japanese version of the jutsu because my Japanese isn't good. I'll use the literal English version while underlining it.**

**The first copy of this chapter had Kyuubi spelt as Kyubi until I Google search and saw it was written as Kyuubi without the special letters. After that, I decided to just stick with the script and used special letters for all words and name that requires it (e.g. Hyūga, Jōnin, Chūnin, Kyūbi, etc).**

**I decided to have Naruto meet the Kyūbi sooner because, well, I did say the Kyūbi was going to be good. Ish. Sooner than later. Had to set it up somehow!**

**Never thought writing could be this difficult. My respects to all you fan fiction writers went up.**

**My apologies to the readers who first read this chapter. It was incomplete at the time and I was messing around with the buttons... It was my first fan fiction so I wanted to see how the whole "publish your own story" thing worked. I'm pretty sure I can still add more details in. Hope you enjoyed!**

**Until next time!**


	3. A New Beginning

**Development Arc: 2 of 6.**

* * *

**Disclaimers: I do not own Naruto or any of the stories mention in Author's Notes.**

* * *

The sun slowly rises over the horizon, signaling the start of the new day. One by one the populace of Konoha began to rise, preparing for work. The once empty streets became crowded as people began setting up stands and making supply runs. On the rooftops, shinobi were seen hopping from building to building making their way to the Administration Office. Others, however, were going from home to home delivering the mail or requesting the presence of individuals who have meetings with the higher ups. In the untrained eyes, there were no shinobi at all, only gusts of wind blowing. Having being used to the life in a shinobi village, the civilians pay them no heed and continued on, minding their own business. All in all, it was a perfectly normal morning.

Of course, this wouldn't have happened had the Hokage not asked for last night incident to be kept as a secret. While there was only one injured and only a few knew of what happened, if news were to spread that the "demon child" had stolen the Scroll of Sealings, many would have asked, if not taken the initiative, for his head. Even though he was tricked and the traitor was currently being "entertained" by the Torture and Interrogation personals, it wouldn't have mattered. The only words that would have registered in their minds were "demon child" and "stolen". Hence the reason why only a handful of unbiased officials knew of the incident that took place.

Speaking of the blond menace...

* * *

Naruto groggily woke up as the sun shines into his face. After blinking a few time to get accustomed to the brightness, he slowly sat up, stretched, and halfheartedly made his way into the bathroom. Not even after taking five steps, he fell face first into the cold, hard floor. Slowly getting up and rubbing his now red forehead, he turned around to look at what had tripped him.

It was a pile of clothes.

Grumbling about his lack of wariness and tidiness, he made his way into the bathroom. Five minutes later, he stepped out and took a look around him. The room was relatively small. The walls were light blue as well as the ceiling but both showed signs of wear. There on the floor where he left them was a pile of old and dirty clothes. Pants and shirts were thrown somewhat neatly in a pile with socks and undergarments thrown around as if a tornado hit the place. His bed was poorly made and very uncomfortable but Naruto doesn't know that. A bed was a bed in his point of view, even if the bed felt like the cold, hard floor, which is an insult to the floor since it's actually more comfortable. A closet was located nearby containing the hideous orange jumpsuits and a built-in mirror.

In the kitchen, there were a few discarded ramen cups on the table also well as his Gama wallet. Thanks to the B-ranked mission, he was paid with 45,000 ryō. He had 8,000 ryō saved up so now he has a total of 53,000 ryō. He remembered how the Hokage would visit every month to give him 10,000 ryō for his allowance. The fridge looked perfectly normal, that is until you opened it. Inside the fridge were food past their expiration date or has gone stale. Some even have moss growing on them! Since the markets decided his presence disgusted them, he had to make do with what he had, even if it involved putting said food in a fridge that had no power. Yes, the power company refused to help him. The same could be said about the water company. While other people have warm water for showers and to cook, he has to somehow boil his water and takes cold showers every day.

To sum it all up, his apartment was a dump. Although, a dump would have received better treatment. Outside of his room, the people wrote things on the wall that would have made any normal person either break down, cry, or commit seppuku or all of the above. The graffiti depict various names and phases regarding his special status. Ranging from phases such as "demon child lives here" to "we wish you would die already", these showed how well "liked" Naruto was. Since nobody ever visits him, save for the Hokage, there was never a need to clean the place. These marks show how his childhood was but it also serves as an inspiration and motivation to get stronger.

However, even though he now knows the reason why they would say and do such things, it doesn't bothers him as much as it did before. He now has someone who acknowledged him for who he is.

Iruka-sensei.

The name brought a smile on his face. Iruka was the first person who saw Naruto as a human being and not as a demon. He was the first person, other than the Sandaime and the owners of Ichiraku Ramen, who actually helped him. Iruka was the brother figure he never had. The two of them were orphans thanks to the Kyūbi and the both of them suffered through the same fate of not being wanted. This made Naruto all the more happy to have someone who understood him. But the name Iruka also reminds him of something important. It was something he was going to do today. Slowly widening his eyes in realization, he remembered he was supposed to meet up with Iruka-sensei at the Hokage's Office soon. Quickly snapping out of his daydreams, he hurriedly got dressed and had some breakfast. Afterwards, he made his way to the office.

Hopping roof to roof, his mind recalls what happened last night after he fell asleep.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Naruto stood in front of the cage of the mighty Kyūbi. Said demon was currently staring at him with a menacing grin. __**"Come closer boy,"**__ it requested. Complying since his curiosity was getting the better of him, he slowly inch forward. Within nine feet of the cage, the kitsune suddenly attempted to strike down Naruto with his claws, causing the cage to shake and emits a vibrating sound echoing throughout the area. He fell backwards and closed his eyes, waiting for the expected attack. After a tense moment of silence and when nothing came, and with the noise slowly receding, he slowly opened his eyes a peek. Slowly became instantly as he stared wide-eyed at a gigantic eight foot long claw bearing a few inches from his face. A bead of sweat poured down across his face as he quietly gulped._

_Upon seeing his jailer's reaction, he was inwardly satisfied and slowly retracted his claw. __**"You're lucky I can't kill you boy. If it was up to me, you would have been dead long since."**_

_Naruto shook off the terrifying presence and quickly composed himself. He stood up shakily and looked at the kitsune right in the eye and asked, "Why did you attack Konoha?"_

_The Kyūbi snorted at such a question. __**"You have no right to question me boy."**__ But answered it nevertheless. __**"But since you asked, it's because I was hungry. And they just happened to be in the vicinity," **__he finished with a fox-liked grin. __**"So weakling, how does it feels to stand in front of the greatest bijū who could destroy a village on a whim?"**__ he asked, wanting to get a reaction out of his jailer._

_Naruto stood his ground shakily and narrows his eyes, suspecting the Kyūbi for lying. "I find it hard to believe the all-powerful Kyūbi would have done that just because he was hungry. And for your other question, I'm not scared of you." Replied Naruto, trying to muster up as much as confidence as he could although he was scared shitless inside._

_The kitsune caught on to what he was trying to do and grinned, baring his white, gigantic canine teeth. __**"Oh. So you're finally thinking for once. It only took 12 years to do so. You must be very proud." **__He retorted in a mocking manner. Naruto grew a tick-mark on his head for the comment but ignored it when he heard the kitsune talk. __**"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I called you here to proposal a deal for you." **__Naruto tilt his head in confusion, wondering what a giant fox could want from him. __**"Truly you did not believe this was a social meeting since such things are beneath me."**_

_Naruto realized there was no way any being of enormous power would have ever wanted anything to do with him unless they could get something out of it. Slightly depressed at the knowledge of not being worthy enough, he focused on the part about said deal. Kitsunes are known for their cunning and mischievous nature. Making a deal with the King of the Kitsune would have consequences to say the least. However, if said powerful entity wanted to make a deal, the least he could do was listen to what the deal was. "What sort of deal?" replied Naruto carefully._

_The Kyūbi chuckled. __**"It seems last night incident changed you boy. Never in a million year would I have imagined you to carefully plan your move." **__Naruto's eyes widened, causing the Kyūbi to smirk. __**"Yes boy, I can hear your thoughts and I must say it's a miracle you can think that far ahead." **__Naruto's right eye began twitching from the jab. __**"The deal I propose is this: in exchange for sharing your senses, I will somewhat guide you in your training since, as of right now, a cockroach can beat you in a fight."**_

_"Oi, you damn fox! I'll have you know I can make hundreds of shadow clones and I beat a Chunin last night!" yelled Naruto in which the fox just rolled his eyes, making Naruto all the more furious for being ignored. After a while, the kitsune got annoyed and roared at Naruto to be quiet, which he quickly complied. Getting back on track, he asked Naruto for his answer. Naruto hummed in thought, his fingers on his chin. "What's the catch?"_

_**"I refused to have a container who is so weak that a cockroach can beat him," **__ignoring Naruto's shouts of Oi's, he continued. __**"But don't think that I like you or anything. I have a reputation to protect and I'll be damned if my container is a weakling. I'm doing this for my own benefits." **__Naruto carefully weighed the pros and cons of receiving help from the kitsune. On one hand, having the powerful Kyūbi as a guide will be really beneficial in the long run. On the other hand, it could be a trick. He then wonders on the possibility of being able to use the kitsune's chakra. Having read said thoughts, the kitsune narrows his eyes. "__**In the possible future, I'll consider it. But as of now, it's off-limits." **__Seeing Naruto's slightly dejected face, he scoffed. __**"You should be grateful I'm helping you at all boy. Without me, you would have died from starvation and all of the injuries you suffered. Face it. Without me, you wouldn't have even lasted this long."**_

_Naruto stood there quietly for a moment, reflecting on past memories. He recalled every occurrences he had not eaten for a period of time and the amount of violence the villagers used on him. Realizing that, indeed, he would have died a long time ago, he bowed deeply. "Thank you for everything you've done Kyūbi. I owed you a great debt."_

_The kitsune snarled at this gesture. Here was his container bowing in submission, treating the Kyūbi as a comrade and someone of familiar. The thought infuriated him. __**"Get up boy. If you ever bow to me again, I'll eat you."**_

_Naruto got up with an annoyed expression. "What the hell Kyūbi?! I was just thanking you!"_

_**"And that's where you're wrong. I don't want your thanks. I'm helping you for my own personal gains. All I want is to get out of here. Now, get out of my sight," **__growled Kyūbi. '_**Until he's strong enough, I have to play it safe. My chakra can kill him in the state that he's in and that would only hinders my plans. I'll wait until the opportunity arises and control him,' **_he inwardly thought._

_Naruto grumbled. "Fine. But how do I get out of here?"_

_**"Imagine yourself out. The same can be said if you wish to come back, but I hope you don't. I will call for you if I need to discuss something of importance but until then, get out of my sights," **__answered the kitsune in a firm tone._

_"Alright, alright. I'm leaving," he waved his hand dismissively. "Later furball!" Naruto said cheekily and quickly left, leaving Kyūbi alone to rant and trash around for being called a pet name._

* * *

_'I wonder if furball is awake,'_ thought Naruto. He could have sworn he heard grumblings in his mind but quickly disregarded it as the building soon came into view. Upon arriving at the Administration Office, he quickly entered and hurried to the Hokage's Office which was located on the third floor of the complex. Walking up to the secretary nearby, "Excuse me. Is jiji busy?" asked Naruto.

The secretary was a woman in her mid-20 with long, brown hair and brown eyes. On her right ear was a pen attached so she'll never lose it. She looked through the appointments, shook her head, and told Naruto to wait as she informs the Hokage. When she came back, she gestured toward the door which Naruto quickly entered after saying a quick thank you. He never knew her name and was saddened by this fact. She was one of the very few people who didn't treat him coldly. Shaking off the negative thoughts for later, he approached the Hokage.

"Hey jiji!" greeted Naruto with a giant smile on his face.

The Hokage smiled. "Good morning, Naruto-kun. Did you sleep well?" He made a mental note to never allow Naruto near Maito Gai as he can see Naruto's teeth shining brightly in front of him. The image of Naruto wearing a green-clad spandex suit, showing his bright white teeth, having a bowl-cut hairstyle, and shouting "YOUTH!" made the Sandaime mentally cringe.

* * *

At Training Ground 10, said person suddenly sneezed. "YOSH! THE FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHTLY TODAY! LEE! NEJI! TENTEN! WE MUST RUN 20 LAPS AROUND THE VILLAGE!"

The three names which were called had different reactions.

The person known as Lee, who was the mini version of Maito Gai, was pumping his fists in the air and began making challenges about what he would do if he wouldn't complete the laps.

The person known as Neji, who was a Hyūga because of his pale eyes, developed a sudden eye twitch and blamed fate for punishing him.

The person known as Tenten, with buns in her hair, sighed and was half tempted to knock some sense into her teammate, Lee, in hopes of silencing him.

Two of the four promised to hunt down the person responsible for their miseries while the other twos wanted to search and thank them for their "youthfulness".

* * *

Naruto involuntarily slivers as he feels there are some people, whom he doesn't know, might be after him. Though there were some who wanted to thanks him but he felt uncomfortable at this feeling in particular. It was like the thanks he was about to receive was a fate worse than death. Anyways, back at the conversation, he nodded. "Last night was the best sleep I ever had! I never felt so tired in my life."

"Well, that's to be expected. You've learned a lot in only a few hours. It's natural for you to suddenly feel overwhelm," explained the Hokage, with his smile still in place. "Iruka should be in a few minutes. He's busy sorting through paperwork." Having said that, he glanced at his own paperwork and wished he could burn them into ashes. But sadly, that would only mean more paperwork to do. The Hokage quietly sighed at the thought. If only there was a secret to this madness...

A few minutes passed as they continued their chat until a knocked was heard. "Enter," said the Sandaime. The door was opened and they saw the smiling face of one Iruka Umino.

"Iruka-sensei!" greeted Naruto happily. But then he saw the bandages Iruka was wearing and his mood dampened a tad.

Noticing his student's mood, he greeted Naruto. "Don't worry. I'm fine. Just a few minor cuts. Nothing serious." He put on a reassuring smile.

Naruto smiled halfheartedly back. The Hokage coughed, drawing the duo's attention.

"Ah Iruka. We were just waiting for you to arrive. I see you are recovering quite nicely," said the Hokage while blowing small puffs out of his pipe.

Iruka walks up to the desk and bowed. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. Please forgive me. I got caught up on some paperwork that needed to be done."

The Hokage dismissed it with a wave while at the same time eyeing his own paperwork. Turning back to the duo, he got up. "Now that we're all here, let's us start. First, we'll go searching for a place where you can change your outfit. Then we'll-"

"What?" asked a confused Naruto. "What's wrong with the clothes I have on now?" The hidden ANBU sweat-dropped. Inside Naruto's mindscape, the Kyūbi resisted the urge to facepalm.

Iruka and the Sandaime exchanged looks before they both answered. "It's hideous."

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms. "But I like my jumpsuit! It's awesome!" Now the Kyūbi could not resist and facepalmed.

Iruka and the Sandaime sighed before they spoke again. "Well, Naruto, how about a compromise?" suggested Iruka. "We'll go out and buy a new outfit that has some orange in it for you since it's your favorite color and since I have a feeling you wouldn't wear anything else. What do you say?"

Naruto hummed in thought until the fox spoke up. **'**_**If you do not accept, I will make sure you'll never eat ramen again.'**_ Paling at the thought of no ramen, Naruto quickly and repeatedly nodded yes. Iruka and the Sandaime exchanged looks at this sudden change in behavior before regarding it as another Naruto moment and then exiting his office.

Walking down the civilian district was not welcoming to say the least. After noticing a few looks the civilians gave Naruto, Iruka and the Sandaime could feel their blood boiling at the treatment he received. The ANBU guards trailing the Sandaime had similar reactions and desperately wished they could stab the civilians for mistreating the boy. Quickly fabricating a plan, Iruka and the Hokage moved Naruto in the middle while the two of them flanked him from both side, positioning themselves as his protection. Seeing how the Sandaime and a Chunin were protecting the demon child, they left the trio alone. But not before the Hokage made a mental note of visiting the shops who have mistreated Naruto in person. Of course, during of this, Naruto was completely oblivious as he continued chatting away.

Five minutes of walking (and listening to Naruto talk about ramen, cats, and the color orange) later, the trio finally arrived at their destination. The store front of the store was a ninja star with the name "The Higarashi Ninja Store" inscribed across it in kanji. It was of regular size and built, just like all the other businesses across the village. There was, however, one major difference between this building and the others.

"Jiji, where are we?" asked a curious Naruto, having never been here before.

"This, Naruto-kun, is where you'll be getting all of your needed ninja supplies. This store is the only one in the village that sells quality items for shinobis. An old friend of mine owns this place therefore you'll be in good hands. Since shinobi are the owners, you can expect them to give you what you need as opposed to civilians who wouldn't have any ideas," explained the Hokage. "Let's have a look inside."

The trio entered the door causing the bell to chime. A man in his thirties looked up from the counter and saw them entering. He was a tall, muscular man with dark hair and beard. He wore a dark blue kimono and had a very rigid face with brown eyes. There was a scar that goes vertically down his right eye. "Ah, Sarutobi!" greeted the man. "What brings you here to my shop? I haven't seen you in ages." His eyes wondered over to Iruka who smiled and nodded. The man returned the nod before noticing a blond kid in an orange jumpsuit standing there looking nervous. He blinked. '_Orange jumpsuit? Blond hair? Wait... Those blue eyes... Is that?...' _The man's eyes widen just a fraction.

The Hokage smiled, having recognized his old friend's realization, "Yes it has Ryuu." The man known as Ryuu snapped out of his musing. "Forgive me but a village cannot run by itself." Ryuu laughed. "I'm here to help Naruto-kun," he introduce with his hand, "Find a store which will help him become a splendid shinobi."

Ryuu looks at Naruto and instantly understood what the Hokage asked for. '_I'm here to help Naruto find a store that won't kick him or mistreat him because of his status and also to repay a favor to Minato.' _Ryuu nodded. "So I see Sarutobi. So Naruto-san, what exactly are you looking for?"

Naruto and Iruka watched in awed as the man addressed the Sandaime in such a familiar manner. He looked at Iruka and the Hokage before he answered. "Well, Iruka-sensei and jiji wants me to buy new clothes and ninja supplies. If you have any clothes that have orange on them I'll take it." At this point the Hokage and Ryuu exchanged amused smile while Iruka silently sighed.

"Well, we did make a compromise," mumbled Iruka.

"I'm sure I have something in the back. I'll go check." As Ryuu walks away, Naruto's eyes began wondering the store. Wherever he looked, there were weapons hanging on the wall and shelves. Maces, staffs, katana, tanto, and other weapons which he has no knowledge about captured his attention. He began wondering off in a random direction, inspecting the merchandise while Iruka and the Sandaime observed him curiously.

Looking over at the various weapons, he saw one that immediately caught his interest. The blade was 55.8 cm long with a white gleam, showing how marvelous and sharp the blade is. Naruto could easily tell this blade is of high quality just from the reflection. The words "The Bringer" was engraved across the blade. The handle was of black color with gold trims and an emblem of a red dragon looking toward the Naruto in a menacing manner. "Hey jiji. What kind of weapon is this?" asked Naruto, without ever looking away from the weapon.

"That is a kodachi made from the finest chakra metal there is to offer." Naruto turned around and saw Ryuu with his clothes. "It was made from a master blacksmith some time ago who once used that sword against the Kayuga Clan in self-defense. It was said that the weapon maker died during the battle for trespassing on Kayuga territory in search of new forging materials. The Kayuga, known for making weapons out of their indestructible bones, could never make a dent in that sword. Any normal sword would have shattered the instant it made contact but not this kodachi. Some says the sword processed ancient hidden powers while other believes the smith died before drawing weapon. Well, that's the rumor anyways."

Naruto looks at the kodachi intently and felt something calling him to take the sword. **'**_**Hey brat.'**_

_'What is it furball?'_

Ignoring the jab, **'**_**You should take the sword. You'll won't see a better weapon laying around for you to buy any time soon. Plus, in case you haven't noticed, there's some sort of connection between you and that kodachi.'**_

_'Yeah. Now that I think about it, it feels like the kodachi was made for me. That's crazy right?'_

_**'The world of shinobi is full of mystery and disturbing thing. One must not assume everything is normal became when it comes to shinobi world, normal is not a word. For example, you have the most power bijū who have lived over a thousand year sealed into your stomach talking to you.'**_

Naruto thoughtfully considers the kitsune's words before turning to face the owner. "Excuse me, Ryuu-san? How much is it for the sword?"

Ryuu smiled. But before he got the chance to answer, the Hokage spoke up. "Don't worry about it Naruto-kun. Consider it a present from your ojii-san." Naruto looks at the Hokage for a moment before rushing in for a hug and showered the Sandaime with "thanks you". The Hokage gently smiled and returned the hug. "Now, why don't you try on your new clothes while we order your supplies?"

"Okay!" Answered Naruto with the largest smile he could think of before he went into the changing room.

After Naruto left, Iruka chuckled. "Some things never change. Isn't that right, Hokage-sama?"

The Hokage smiled and nodded. "That what makes Naruto one of a kind. It's also what separates him from the Kyūbi. If he was truly the kitsune, those who have mistreated and abused him would have been dealt with a long time ago. Sometime the village's idiocy amazes and infuriates me." He shook his head.

"I'm confident things will change soon. After all, once he starts the road in becoming a shinobi, things will be different." He assured and then chuckled. "It is Naruto after all Hokage-sama. He'll change people's opinion of him if it's the last thing he'll do."

While the Hokage and Iruka were having their conversation, Ryuu watched the two intently before smiling. '_The ability to continue forward and never give up against insurmountable odds just proves how stubborn he can be. There was once a red-haired kunoichi who had the same attitude and wanted to become the Hokage no matter how much people told her it was impossible. Of course, she got back at those people with her hellish pranks.' _Ryuu inwardly chuckled. '_There's no doubt in my mind that Naruto inherited more than just looks from his parents.'_

A few seconds later, Naruto stepped out into view wearing his new outfit. The spectators watched him intently before nodding in approval. Gone was the bright orange monstrosity (to their indescribable relief) and replaced with a dark orange jacket with black sleeves and a fishnet underneath. He wore black pants with two white stripes running across his left thigh and a pair of blue sandals. Attached to each thighs were empty holsters holding up to a fair amount of kunai, shurikens, and other tools. His goggles were gone as well and replaced with the leaf headband.

_'Definitely an improvement from that eyesore,'_ the three spectators thought in unison.

"You look like a true shinobi now Naruto," said Iruka proudly before walking up and ruffling his hair, despite his protests. "But it still doesn't mean anything if you don't act like one or have all the necessary skills. I expect you to work hard on your studies," said Iruka firmly at which Naruto nodded in resignation. In a more gentler tone, "After this, lets grab some ramen later. What do you say?"

"Yeah!" He answered almost immediately.

The three smiled at his antics. "We'll also take a few kunai, shurikens, scrolls and other necessaries for Naruto. And some extra set of clothes to replace his old jumpsuits he has at home," requested Iruka.

Ryuu nodded. After awhile, he gathered all the requested supplies at the counter. "Now with the sets of clothes that'll be 15,000 ryō. The supplies you requested will cost you 22,000 ryō and with the kodachi, it'll will cost an extra 75,000 ryō bring the total to 112,000 ryō. Since this is your first time here, you'll get a 10% discount on all your purchase bringing the total to own to 100,800 ryō."

Naruto's eyes bugged out at the price and started to take out his wallet when the Hokage and Iruka put a hand on his shoulders. "Remember Naruto, this is our treat," smiled Iruka and the Hokage.

Naruto looked at them both before a warm smile spread across his face. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei... And ojii-san." Tears threaten to leak out but he held it in. The fact that this was the first time Naruto called him his grandfather warmed the old man's heart.

After they made their purchase, they walked down the street toward Naruto's apartment. "Excuse Hokage-sama." The Hokage turned around to face Iruka. "I still haven't finish writing down the reports for the new sensei yet. There's also the issue of calculating the students' final grade for the semester as well as the written report on Mizuki."

The Hokage nodded in understanding, having realized he still have paperwork himself but is willing to delay the inevitable for as long as he could. "I understand Iruka. You are dismissed."

Iruka bowed. "Naruto, I'll take those to your apartment while you continue on. I'll meet you later for ramen ok?"

Naruto nodded. "Thanks Iruka-sensei. Maybe I'll treat you to ramen this time," exclaimed Naruto happily.

"Maybe I'll hold you onto that." Laughed Iruka. "See you around."

"Bye Iruka-sensei!"

After giving Iruka Naruto's purchases, the Hokage led them in a different direction. "Where are we going now ojii-san?" The Hokage gave a warm smile.

"You see that building up ahead?" Naruto looks forward and saw a giant dome building with the kanji for "Library" carved in a red circle. "That, Naruto-kun, contains all the knowledge you'll ever need to become a shinobi. The topic range from Konoha's history and Clans to chakra control and jutsus. Of course, most of these required having a higher rank therefore you'll be restricted to the Genin section of the library."

As they entered the library, Naruto stared around in disbelief. All around him were thousands of book written by authors discussing various topics. Chakra control, elemental jutsu, elemental manipulation, jutsu theory, taijutsu katas, history of Konoha, and many more that seems so alien to him. Upon approaching the librarian, he noticed she was scowling at him. The Hokage, upon seeing the look on the librarian's face, frowned. '_It seems I'll have to make personal visits to places Naruto will now go to since he's a shinobi,'_ thought the Hokage disappointingly.

"I would like to register Naruto-kun here for a library card," said the Hokage, drawing the librarian's attention toward him and paled for not seeing the Hokage.

"O-of course Hokage-sama." They spend a few minutes taking Naruto's picture and then filling out the information for his card.

"Thank you. Please spread the word that should Naruto be denied entry or not treated as a normal shinobi, I **WILL** come and _discuss _the issue. Is that understood?" asked the Hokage with a hint of KI, making the librarian turn even whiter. The librarian nodded several time. "Good. Now, come Naruto-kun. I need to show you what you'll need to learn."

Naruto, being busy admiring his library card, was oblivious to the whole conversation until his name was called. "Huh?" He blinked. "Oh right. Ok ojii-san."

The Sandaime led him around the library, showing him where he could take books from and which area were off limits. Toward the end of the tour, the Hokage suddenly turned around to face him. "Now Naruto-kun, considering that your education was sabotaged at the academy," Naruto lowers his head. "You will have to catch up by reading all of these books."

"WHAT?! But ojii-san! I hate reading! And I can't read all of these books! It'll take forever!" yelled Naruto, frantically waving his hands in the air, before being shushed by the people there as well as the Hokage.

"Naruto-kun, this is a library. Please keep your voice down." Naruto scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. "Now, I know doing something like this may seem impossible." Naruto mumbled under his breath about being punished. "But there is a shortcut. You see, you have the ability to make hundreds of shadow clones."

Naruto tilt his head in confusion. "How can shadow clones help?"

The Hokage chuckled. "Well, you see Naruto-kun, other than the ability to make solid copies of yourself, you also earned the memories of your clones when they dispel. For instance, if your clones were to say, read a book, you'll also learn what your clone learn." Naruto widen his eyes in realization. "Shadow clones were originally made for the purpose of scout and reconnaissance missions since they will transfers the layout of the enemy while providing the user with minimal risks. They can also be used to train although nobody ever attempted it. But if one were to attempt the method, techniques that would normally cost a week can be done in three days or less with clones."

Naruto's eyes widen even more at the implication. "But of course, the Shadow Clones Technique is a kinjutsu for that very reason." Seeing Naruto's confused look, he decided to shed some light on the topic. "While the jutsu have many benefits, it require high chakra reserves in order to be used, about Jōnin level. If anyone with less chakra reserves were to attempt the jutsu, they will die from chakra exhaustion. The reason you were able to make so many is because of your... tenant." The Hokage briefly paused during his explanation as Naruto looked at his stomach and places a hand over it. "Another reason is because of the mental exhaustion of having the memory transferred back to the user. Too much information could overlord the brain, thus killing them."

Naruto thought back to the incident involving Mizuki when he first used shadow clones. He recalled how he didn't feel any drain in his chakra from filling the forest with clones. He then also remembered that when the clones dispelled, he was able to see the area around him from different angles without ever turning. '_I was able to summon hundreds of clones and dispel them without suffering from any backlash.' _Naruto realized that this jutsu was perfect, like it was made from him. He could use them to speed up his progress without fearing any of the side effects.

Realizing what other uses for the jutsu could be, "Um, ojii-san?"

"What is it?"

"If the Shadow Clones Technique help speed up progress, why haven't you or Iruka-sensei used them for paperwork, the thing you're always complaining about?" asked Naruto curiously.

At that moment, the Hokage felt like banging his head against the wall for not realizing it sooner. '_All this time, I could have used clones to finish the paperwork for me. I always wondered how Minato never had any paperwork. The nerves of that man for not telling me the secret!' _thought the Hokage angrily. "Naruto. For helping me deal with the enemy of all Kages," Naruto sweat-dropped. "I present you with this." He pulls out a scroll. "This scroll contains the secret behind the Shadow Clones. I want you to use them to the fullest since you're the only one who can."

Naruto stares at the scroll intently before accepting it. "Now, I want you to take these books." The Hokage took books from the shelves and hand them over to Naruto. "And read them. A shinobi needs a strong body as well as a strong mind in order to survive. Knowledge is just as powerful as brute strength Naruto. The team assignment will be announced a week from today. I suggest you use the time to learn as much as you can." Naruto nodded. "Now, if you would excuse me, I have to return to my office." The Hokage had an evil gleam in his eyes as he walks toward the office were his paperwork is, no doubt using clones to finish them.

"I will jiji! Thank you!" After saying goodbyes, Naruto check out the books that was recommended and hurried off toward a training spot. His mind running a mile an hour as he imagined what he was going to train and how strong he will be after the end of the week. Going far away from any peering eyes, he enters a cleaning with a lake in the middle surrounded by tall trees.

_**'Stop here brat. It's a good place for training,' **_suggested the kitsune.

_'Does this mean you'll help me in my training furball?'_

Growling at the pet name, **'**_**As I said last night, I'm not your sensei. I'm only going to offer advice for you every once in a while, nothing more, nothing less,'**_ answered the Kyūbi.

Naruto sighed at the foolish attempt. _'It was worth a shot. So, since you're only going to offer me advice, what do you think I should do first?'_

_**'Make some clones to read those books. Start on physical exercises. 50 sit-ups, push-ups, squats, and laps around the lake should be a good warm up,' **_said the Kyūbi with a toothy grin, enjoying the disbelief and pale look on his container's face.

"WHAT?! THAT'S TOO MUCH YOU DAMN FOX!" If any living being were around, they will find Naruto talking to himself extremely weird.

The kitsune scoffed. **'**_**You wanted my advice and there it is. If you want to not get beaten up by a cockroach, you'll need to do these physical exercises because let's face it, you're no strong than a civilian.'**_

Now it was Naruto's turn to growl at the jab. "Fine then you sadistic fox."

The Kyūbi chuckled ominously. **'**_**Oh brat. You haven't seen how sadistic I can be.'**_

Naruto shivered at the thought before summoning clones and starting his exercise. While he got started on his physical training, his clones began reading the materials that the Hokage suggested.

_How to Lay Traps for Dummies_

_How to Use a Kodachi_

_The Academy Jutsus_

_The Uses of Different Ninja Tools_

_Beginner Chakra Control Exercise_

_Intermediate Chakra Control Exercise_

_Advanced Chakra Control Exercise_

_The History of Konohagakure_

_The Geography of Hi no Kuni_

_The Clans of Konoha_

_The Secrets of the Shadow Clone Technique_

_Shinobi Tactics 101_

_A Book on Manners_

Never before was Naruto so grateful to able to perform Shadow Clones. If he had read the books himself, it would have taken him months. Realizing how much he could learn in such a short amount of time, he became excited, having an urge to learn as much as he could. But of course, he first had to finish his physical training for the day.

Two hours later he was reaching toward the end of his workout. As he was finishing the remainder of his exercise, which only consist of 10 more laps, his clones have now gotten halfway through all of the books. Sweats pour down his face as he pushes himself to complete the conditioning. Meanwhile, the clones were beginning to get bored, having to sit in one place for two hours and read while the original did something active. Another 30 minutes passed before Naruto was able to finish. Upon completion, he collapse on the grass panting, covered in swear and dirt.

"I *pant* can't believe *pant* I finished *pant* haha," said Naruto weakly while panting

_**'Neither could I. I thought you would have dropped dead 10 laps ago,' **_retorted the Kyūbi with a toothy grin, clearly enjoying Naruto's misery. Naruto, being too exhausted to make a comeback, groaned.

"Ugh. Might as well dispel those clones and see what they've learned."

_**'Wait brat. I don't think you're supposed to-'**_

Unfortunately Naruto already gave the mental command and as a result, all of the clones dispelled at the same time. The information rush was too much for Naruto to handle in his weakened state and was thus knocked out.

_**'Do it all at once...' **_the kitsune sighed. _**'Out of all the containers in the world, why did I end up with the one with birds for brain?'**_

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**Revised 4/6/2015 - Fixed the ryos and where his goggles went as well as grammar, spelling, and other minor changes. I Google searched and learned 10 ryō is equal to 1 yen. Also included the ANBU guards briefly in the chapter. Stronger relationship between Naruto and the Hokage as well as some honorifics. Just for those who are curious. Fun facts added below. Previous version same thing. Sorry. I'm starting the version log now.**

**Revised 4/12/2015 - Use of special characters in words. Added ' ' around thoughts and underlined techniques. Haven't been BETA by SRB yet so sorry.**

**Revised 4/23/2015 - Ryos to ryō, fixed the prices, other minor changes. Sources for all of this is Narutopedia. Not yet BETA.**

**Revised 6/13/2015 - Hopefully last grammar/spelling fix. Added arc. **

**Revised 1/1/2016 – I hoped for nothing. Also changed kit to brat.**

**Name: Naruto Uzumaki**

**Age: 12**

**Birthday: October 10th**

**Rank: E+**

**Titles: Genin, Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead, Prankster King from Hell, Jinchuriki, Demon Child, Blond Menace, Brat**

**Affiliation: Konohagakure**

**Taijutsu: E**

**Ninjutsu: D-**

**Genjutsu: E**

**Other Skills: D**

**No stat changes except two new titles. He just began his training and it only been a few hours so not so much as an improvement as of yet.**

**And that's chapter two. So far, none of the chapters that I outlined went with the original plan so I'm basically winging it as I go along. I apologize for having a slow beginning but everything have to set up somehow.**

**For those of you wondering about the Kyūbi, he's still evil but is slowly changing. He has to earn Naruto's trust first and have Naruto in the right condition before giving Naruto his chakra. I got the idea from the spin-off in **_**Naruto Shippuden**_** where Naruto meets Zora and found out he had a Kyūbi in him also. Zora's body was too weak to handle the Kyūbi. I used that idea in this chapter.**

**Naruto now calls the Hokage his "ojii-san" or "grandfather" because the Hokage is now helping Naruto due to his treatment so I thought he deserves it.**

**Naruto didn't asked for a scabbard for his sword yet so they decided to wrap it in cloth like Kisame's sword.**

**In the previous chapter, I mentioned that the Hokage giving Naruto a note to enter the library. Things happened and the Hokage decided to personally show Naruto the library and register him.**

**By the way, did you know Tenten's last name was never mentioned or her parents? In the manga, she ran a ninja store at the end. The same idea is being used here as well as in other stories because... Naruto needed a place to shop?**

**Since I'm on spring break, I'll be posting a few more chapters this week. I hope to get to at least the Wave Arc by the end of the break.**

**Until next time!**


	4. 7 Days

**NarutoHinata20114251: I'm thinking about pulling up a poll for the readers to decide. I won't announce the pairings until the Shippuden part in the story.**

**loganhunter2: Yeah. I don't expect my stories to be as good at theirs because English was never my strong point. But its a fun challenge to try though :P**

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**Development Arc: 3 of 6.**

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**Disclaimers: I do not own Naruto or any of the stories mention in Author's Notes.**

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_**'Brat… Oi brat! Wake up! Get off your lazy ass!' **_A voice that sound oh so familiar to Naruto woke him up from his slumber. Slowly stirring awake, he found himself laying face first on the ground. He groaned as he can feel his muscles aching as he tries to move. Holding his head due to a massive headache, he observes his surroundings.

_'Ugh... My head... What happened?'_

_**'You passed out after dispelling the clones. It was quite amusing,' **_spoke the kitsune in a nonchalant manner.

_'Geez... Thanks for your concern you damn fox,' _complained Naruto. _'Ugh..._ _Note to self: never do that again.' _As he made a mental note, his headache worsen, if that was even possible. _'Ugh._

_**''I second that. You should consider yourself lucky that information didn't overload your brain and turn it to mush. Well, not that you have a brain,' **_retorted Kyūbi. He grinned upon seeing the irritated look on Naruto's face.

_'I'd like to see you try that furball and then tell me how you feel after having a few weeks' worth of information rushed into your head!'_

_**'What? And miss the show? Never,' **_he replied. _**'Beside. I don't need to since you'll be the one doing it for me.' **_He gave Naruto a wide grin as he could feel Naruto mentally flipping him off. It pained him to even do so. After a few moment, Naruto could feel his headache gradually receding.

He sighed. '_So furball, any ideas what time it is?'_

_**'What do I look like? Your personal clock?' **_growled the kitsune.

_'Sheesh. No need to get so touchy Mr. Sensitive,' _stated Naruto in a sarcastic manner which didn't go too well with the kitsune.

_**'Watch it brat. I can make your life a living hell,' **_he growled.

_'More than you already do?' _asked Naruto with an eyebrow raise.

The Kyūbi gave a menacing grin, not that Naruto can see it, before answering._** 'Yes.'**_

_'Well that's all good and all,' _said Naruto, instantly dispelling the tense moment. '_But I still don't know what time it is.'_

The Kyūbi inwardly groan before answering with a question of his own. _**'You read the book on Shinobi Tactics 101 didn't you?'**_

_'Yeah... But what does that have to do with anything?_

The kitsune was annoyed at the sheer dumbness of his container. _**'Recall through the memories your clones had and you'll find your answer. Now, leave me alone.'**_

_'Hello? Kyūbi? Hey yo FURBALL!' _he mentally shouted. There was complete silence as the Kyūbi cut off the mental link to communicate.

He sighed. "Might as well see what that overgrown fox want." Naruto struggles as he stands up. His whole body hurt whenever he tries to move. His legs shakes and his muscles tighten. In the end, he gave up on trying to stand and crawled over to a tree and pressed his back against it. Naruto then closed his eyes and sorted through his clones' memories, wondering what they've learned during the two hours of reading.

_'Let see here... How to Lay Traps for Dummies... Always remember to disguise your traps and where you place them...' _"Well no shit Sherlock," Naruto grumbled on that basic knowledge.

_'How to Use a Kodachi... A kodachi is shorter than a katana but longer than a tanto. It is ideal for people who tends to focus on both speed and agility...' _"Hmm... I'll need to bring my kodachi the next time I train."

_'The Academy Jutsus... The Clone Technique... If you use too much chakra when attempting to make clones, they will turn pale white and die...' _"Huh. That explains why I could never perform it. Guess I don't know my own limits."

_'The Uses of Different Ninja Tools... There are over 100 types of ninja tools throughout the world. Each one have their own unique performance... The bo staff is the most versatile of all weapons and have gained fame during the Third Great Shinobi War thanks to Hiruzen Sarutobi and his infamous Adamantine Staff which is the most powerful bo staff known in existence...' _"Whoa. Who knew ojii-san was so famous?" Naruto asked in clear awestruck. "I always thought of him as an old man who always hated paperwork."

* * *

Said person was walking down the street when he suddenly sneezed. "Why did I get a sudden urge to punish Naruto?" Shaking off such thoughts, he enters another store that has banned Naruto from entering to have a "talk" with them.

* * *

_'Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced Chakra Control Exercise... Chakra is the physical and spiritual energy in our bodies... The more chakra a person has, the worse their chakra control is... Shinobis use chakra for techniques... In battles, if one is not careful when maintaining their chakra, it could lead to chakra exhaustion which will result in death... Exercises to improve chakra control includes but not limited to leaf floating, tree climbing, and water walking...' _"I'll need to practice these later. If what the books said were true, then my control is next to zero." He was a little depressed at this revelation.

_'The History of Konohagakure... Founded over 100 years ago by Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha... Madara summoned the Kyūbi to fight with the Shodai Hokage for nearly two days at the Valley of the End... His Wood Release had the power to tame the bijū...' _"Wow... Someone had the ability to tame the bijū and the Kyūbi... And there's more than one bijū out there..." mumbled an awestruck Naruto.

In Naruto's mindscape, the Kyūbi, having also learned what his container now knows, inwardly growled at those two names. _**'It's thanks to those two that I have been reduced to nothing more than a pet. It's because of those accursed red eyes that turned me into nothing more than a slave and that pesky Wood user who contained my power.' **_The kitsune subconsciously leak out KI as he recalled the event that transpired, causing him to spend the rest of his life in some human.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Resting on the soft nest he made in the mountains, the Kyūbi was about to take a nap when he senses a presence approaching him. Normally when someone trespasses on his territory, their aura usually feel lost and scared. This one however, was neither. It was a presence that gives off a powerful and arrogant aura and seems to be growing stronger the closer it approaches. Having experienced similar, but not as potent, aura before, the Kyūbi was on guard but was also curious on who this powerful individual was who would dare not fear the almighty Kyūbi._

_As the figure approached, he pretends to be asleep, paying no heed to the intruder. "What have we here? It's seem I've stumbled upon the nest of the powerful Kyūbi." Upon hearing the figure's voice, the kitsune opened one eye to observe. The figure was a light-skinned man with spiky, black hair with a hint of blue that grew to his waist with shoulder-length bangs. He wore crimson armor which covers numerous parts of his body with a blue high-colored, long sleeves mantle underneath that splits down the lower half of his body. He wore bandages on both legs from the shin down and wore a pair of black sandals. On his back was a white gunbai with black outlines with three tomoes on one side and a long handle wrapped in bandages with a long chain attached to it._

_**"What do you want human? And I hope you have a good excuse for disturbing my rest," **__asked the kitsune in an irritated tone that meant it will kill if the answer is wrong._

_"My, my. Temperamental now aren't we? I came looking for the most powerful bijū and all I find was an overgrown fox lacking his beauty sleep," retorted the mysterious figure, not at all fazed by the danger in front of him._

_The Kyūbi, having heard the tone it was spoken to, slowly got on all fours and towered down on the figure. __**"Watch what you say worm. Before I feast upon your flesh," **_he spat.

_The figure scoffed. "You bijū are nothing more than untamed beasts waiting for a master."_

_**"Shut up,"**__ he snarled._

_"You are beings of unstable force lacking in intelligence, waiting for a guide to lead you."_

_**"Shut. Up." **__This time in a louder and angrier tone at the insolence words coming from the intruder's mouth._

_"From this moment on, the Uchiha Clan will be your master. The bijū are nothing more than slaves to those with the Blessed Eyes!" The Kyūbi started growling and building up his chakra to kill the human until he looked into the figure's eyes saw it morphing into red eyes with three tomoes spinning wildly. Forming a half ram seal, the figure locks onto the kitsune's eyes and said only one word. "Obey!" And the world went black._

_The next thing the Kyūbi knew, he was laying down in a clearing somewhere. Slowly opening his eyes, he took a look around his surroundings and wondered what the hell happened. Everything within a five miles radius was destroyed. The landscape, which he presumed used to be a forest, was scorched beyond recognition. Craters and smokes filled the area wherever he looked. Sensing a presence behind him, he turned and almost attacked the figure wearing crimson armor until he saw his face, which was different from the other person who he encounter earlier._

_He was a tanned skin man with dark eyes and waist-length black hair. He wore red armor made up of numerous metal plates protecting his frame and a black suit underneath. He had bandages from the shin down on both legs and wore a pair of black sandals. Attached to his back was a large scroll that was easily three-fourths of his height. He had a forehead protector on him with a strange symbol engraved at the center. Judging from the various cuts and how out of breath he was, it was safe to say he just went to hell and came back._

_Not wanting a second encounter with another human, the Kyūbi tried to build its chakra only to find that he couldn't. Looking around for the source, he saw multiple giant vines wrapped around his legs and body, seeming to siphon off his chakra. Struggling to get loose, he ended up drawing the attention of the figure. As the figure approaches, he snarled and barred his teeth, not at all concern with the fact he was completely vulnerable. However, his expression lessen the moment he saw what seems to be sadness in the figure's eyes._

_"Kyūbi," the figure spoke in a grave tone. His right eye was shut with blood running down from his forehead. "You are too powerful to let roam free unchecked. I regrettably see no other way." The kitsune began feeling his power being drained from him and slowly closes his eyes to sleep._

_What happened next was something he totally didn't expect. He found himself nailed and chained to a wall. As he struggle to get loose, he draws on more and more power until a mysterious force stopped him, completely cutting off his power. Realizing that resistance was futile, he submitted after 30 minutes of the useless struggle. He then heard footsteps approaching and had a strange sense of déjà vu. However, he snapped out of his musings when he realized it was a woman who had came to see him. She had bright, red hair wrapped in two separate buns on both side of her head with kanji written on the tags in her hair decals. She had large, pupil-less eyes and a purple diamond painted on her forehead. She wore a lavish high-collar kimono and had an air of nobility surrounding her._

_"I see you have finally woken up," spoke the woman in a mesmerizing tone._

_The kitsune narrows his eyes. __**"Where am I?"**_

_"You are inside me."_

_The answer made the Kyūbi wide eyed until he narrows them, fearing for what he expect had happened. __**"Explain."**_

_"Your battle with Madara Uchiha against Hashirama Senju, my husband, utterly destroyed the landscape. My husband believed that if you were to roam free, you would have destroyed the world and all of the lives which inhabited it. He came to the decision that you will be sealed inside of me and I for one support it. I am your Jinchūriki, Mito Uzumaki."_

_By the time Mito finished her explanation, the kitsune was in an uproar. _**'Sealed inside a human? Of all the things... I will not stand for this!'**_ he inwardly thought before he began fighting off the chains. Mito, seeing how much power the Kyūbi was drawing, tried to restrain him with her chakra. Having felt this force earlier, he turned toward the source and saw his container pouring chakra into the seal._

_"As you exert your power, you also draw more hatred toward you. I ask you to stay quiet," Mito said in a firm tone which leaves no room for negotiation. This, of course, angered the kitsune even more. Having to obey a human was something all bijū would never do if they had a say in it. Little did the kitsune know this was the start of him becoming Konoha's bijū and military weapon. And this was also the start of him being sealed inside one Uzumaki after another._

* * *

So caught up on his trip down memory lane that he had forgotten about Naruto, not that he cared.

_'Shinobi Tactics 101...' _"Let see why the fox specifically asked for this," he mumbled. _'Shinobi are tools for their village... Killing is a part of the shinobi life... Shinobi do not fight fair and must take all advantages that are present to them... A balanced diet is mandatory for shinobis...' _Naruto raised both of his eyebrows in confusion. "What? Why? Oh well. I'll just ask them later."_ 'A shinobi can tell time by pinpointing the sun's location and the position of the shadows...' _"Huh. I never knew that. Let see..." Looking around, he saw no signs of the sun due to the tall trees blocking his view. Sighing for having to move, he shakily got up and started storing away his items. He began walking toward the direction of which he entered the forest from.

It was after a few minutes of walking that he noticed the soreness has eased a little. Upon recalling what he learned from the Kyūbi in the book, about how he was able to heal his wounds at an astonishing rate, he realizes that he had obtained the kitsune's healing factor. A few more minutes passed before he emerged from the forest and could see sunlight. Recalling what he learned from the book, Naruto used the sun location in the sky and the position of the shadows and saw it was around 6 pm. His stomach rumbled.

"Guess I missed lunchtime. Maybe I'll have that ramen treat Iruka-sensei promised me," he said to no one in particular while drooling at the prospect of eating ramen. With a brand new goal set in mind, he set his course to find Iruka for that ramen treat.

* * *

10 minutes later, the duo arrived at Ichiraku Ramen Stand slurping down bowls after bowls of the food from the gods. Well, one of them was anyways.

"... You know Naruto..." started Iruka.

"Hmm?" asked Naruto with his mouth full.

"You could have at least waited for me to finish my paperwork before barging into the classroom demanding ramen," stated Iruka with an amused look.

Naruto finished slurping his 13th bowl before scratching the back of his head and giving a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that Iruka-sensei. I've been training ever since this morning and I forgot to eat lunch."

"So I see. I never saw you so exhausted in my whole life." He closed his eyes and chuckled, reminiscing on how many times he saw the ball of energy sitting next to him being so hyperactive. "So Naruto. What have you been working on since this morning?"

Naruto was in the middle of finishing his bowl of ramen when Iruka asked him. Taking a few moments to savory the taste, he let out a relaxed sigh. He looked toward the ceiling before giving a reply. "Well, I've been working on my physical training since I've been told I'm not at the level where I should be. I did 50 push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and laps around the lake in about two hours. I nearly fainted after that. I've also read the books that ojii-san recommended for me after you left and learned a lot of interesting things. One of the things I've learn that I can't always rely on brute strength alone if I want to be a shinobi so I will have to read more to expand my knowledge."

As he finish, he turns toward Iruka only to find him wide eyed gaping like a fish. He turns toward Teuchi and Ayame and saw them too with similar expressions. Sweat-dropping at this display, "Is it really impossible for you to picture me reading?" he asked in a slightly annoyed tone. Snapping out of their thoughts, the three answered almost simultaneously.

"Yes." Naruto hung his head while inwardly weeping anime tears.

"Well thanks for the vote of confident..."

Iruka sighed. "I'm sorry Naruto. But I used to remember how much you hated reading. You said that shinobi is all about having an adventure, not sitting in a classroom reading a stupid book. I once remember you claiming that the moment you became Hokage, you were going to ban reading throughout the village," said Iruka in an amused tone. Teuchi chuckled and Ayame giggled before joining the conversation.

"It seems you changed ever since yesterday Naruto. It's like the moment you put on that headband, you've become a different person. Of course, I don't mind the changes as long as you come and eat our ramen every now and then." Teuchi laughed.

"Aww! My Naruto-otouto is all grown up! Before you know you'll be out there traveling across the world, saving princesses in distress, falling in love, settling down. Soon, your whole family will-"

"Ayame-nee-chan!" shouted an embarrassed, red-faced Naruto, effectively cutting her off from her fantasy daydreams. Ayame sticks her tongue out at Naruto before turning around to do the dishes. The adults chuckled at their antics, much to Naruto's dismay.

"Well, Naruto, I see you've been working hard. I'm proud of you." He beamed at the praise. "You're on your way to becoming a splendid shinobi." Naruto smiled a large smiled before moving in to hug Iruka. Iruka returns the hug before continuing. "If there's anything you need, let me know. I'll be glad to help." He finished with a warm smile.

Naruto let go of Iruka before returning to his seat and taking up a thinking position. "Actually Iruka-sensei, there is something you can help me with." Iruka raised an eyebrow, signaling Naruto to continue. "In one of the books I've read, it says that a shinobi needs a balanced diet. Why is that?"

Iruka almost facepalm at the question before remembering how Naruto's education was sabotaged at the academy so it was only logical he didn't understand. "You see Naruto, the human body breaks down the food we eat and turn them into energy that we need in order to survive. There are six categories of food that we must eat every day in order to obtain all essentials minerals and vitamins that our body requires. Those categories are grain, vegetables, fruits, meat, dairy, and oil otherwise known as the food pyramid. I'll show you."

Iruka randomly pulls out a scroll and unrolled it after making some room on the counter. He then grabbed a brush and an ink pad before drawing a pyramid and labeling items. "Take a look Naruto." Naruto looks at the picture intently as Iruka explains. "At the bottom of the pyramid are the grain portion. According to researchers, we need to have more grain related food in our diet than anything else. These food are contains dietary fiber, several B vitamins, and minerals which are essential for our body." Iruka started naming a few food which falls under this section.

"Next up the pyramid are the fruits and vegetables. While we don't need to eat as much as oppose to grain, they are still of equal importance. Fruits and vegetables contain several vitamins and minerals that our body cannot function without. Not to mention eating them helps keep our body healthy and strong." He named a few food under each section before moving on. "Above that are the meat and dairy section. As you can see, as we go higher up the pyramid, the less of each food type is recommended for us to eat. The reason for that is quite simple: eating too much of anything is a bad thing. For example, while meat are rich in proteins and fats, they are also contain cholesterol which is not good for us. Dairy food are a great source of nutrients such as calcium which are necessary for building strong bones. The last group are oils and is not technically a food group. Studies have shown that oil contains essential nutrients therefore was recommended in our diet but only in small amount."

After finishing up his writing, he put his brush and ink pad up before turning toward Naruto, who still had his eyes glued to the scroll absorbing every information on it. The sight brought a warm smile on Iruka's face as well as Teuchi, who was forgotten in the background. "As you can see Naruto," Naruto turned to face him. "If we eat a balanced diet, we'll be able to give our body everything that it needs to become strong and in turn, make us stronger as well. There are several essentials that our body needs and they can only be found in certain food groups. If you want to become Hokage, you'll need to eat a balanced diet. After all, a Hokage is the strongest in the village isn't he?" Naruto nodded. "Then it would only make sense that he eats the food he needs and everything else in moderation doesn't it?"

Naruto thought about it before turning his attention toward the scroll. _'If what Iruka-sensei says was true, then I'll need to change my diet and limits my ramen intake from now on if I want to get stronger.'_ Inside Naruto's mindscape, the Kyūbi was half-tempted to do a victory dance but his pride got in the way so he settled for the thought of no more overworking on breaking down the accursed food. Suffice to say, Iruka went up a notch in the kitsune's book.

"Yeah, it does Iruka-sensei. Say jiji, do you think you can add a healthy ramen choice on the menu?" asked Naruto, never taking his eyes off of the scroll.

"Well, I don't see why not. Why do you ask Naruto?"

"I want to eat healthy but I also love ramen. If you were to add a healthy ramen choice on the menu, I can have the best of both world!" Naruto exclaimed while waving his hands in the air, much to their amusement.

"Alright. I'll see what I can do. I'd hate to lose my favorite customer just because he started eating healthy. It would be bad for business." Teuchi laughed. Ayame overheard the conversation and hit her dad on the head with a ladle for worrying more about losing money than Naruto.

Iruka and Naruto chuckled at the father and daughter duo before Iruka pulled out his wallet to pay for the meal. Turning toward Naruto, "If you want to learn more about what food you should eat, you should check out a book from the library. The things I've told you were just a small fraction of the actual concept." At this, Naruto nodded in acceptance. Seeing how much his favorite blond student grew up in such a short amount of time led him to ruffle his hair, much to Naruto's annoyance. After getting his hand swatted away, he stood up, followed by Naruto. "I expect great thing from you Naruto. Come by and visit sometime ok?" With a wave, he left.

"Bye Iruka-sensei! And thanks for the ramen!" he yelled. Turning back into the shop, he bid the owners farewell and left with the scroll Iruka gave him. He walked toward the direction of his apartment until an idea popped into his head. Realizing he needs to do more research to see if it will work, he made a mental note to come back for it later.

Upon entering his room, he quickly left and closed the door to recheck the room number. _'Nope. This is definitely my room.'_ He opens the door again and walks in. As he took a look around him, he noticed several things out of place. Piles of clothes that used to be laying on the floor and the empty bowl of ramen cups left on the table were gone. The floor was clean as well as the walls and ceiling. His bed was made and the furniture was dust-free. As he eyes wonder across the place, he caught something taped to the fridge. Upon entering the kitchen, he saw all of the stuff they brought for him laying on the floor in a neat row. Taking the note off of the fridge, he begin reading it.

_Naruto,_

_As you may have noticed, I took the liberty of cleaning your place for you. In all honesty, it was a mess. It took me two hours to clean the place and I could have sworn something bit me when I accidentally step on your pile of clothes _(Naruto snickers)_. I hope you don't mind me throwing away all of your old clothes and the empty cups of ramen_ (Naruto rolled his eyes, knowing for a fact Iruka would have burned them if they weren't in his room)._ I noticed the water and power company have neglected you with basic needs so I told the Hokage of this development and he said he'll make sure they'll stop this treatment. He also said that he made a visit to every single shops that didn't give you the treatment you deserved so you don't need to worry about being cheated again. He hopes you are doing well in your training and so do I. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask._

_Yours truly,_

_Iruka._

A tear threaten to fall as he finished reading his note. The feeling of having people caring for him after being neglected for so long by the majority of the populace touch a nerve within his heart. It was a warm, fuzzy feeling that he never wants to end. Using his sleeves to wipe away the unshed tears, he made his way toward his equipment with a new resolve of never letting anything harm those who cared for him. It was from this day forth that he promised to do whatever he could, even if it means dying, to protect those whom he considers precious.

* * *

**Day 1**

BA-RING!

The alarm on his clock rang at the appointed time: 7 am. Naruto let out a groan as he slowly made his way out of bed and toward the bathroom. Halfway toward his destination, he took a glance at the calendar. It was Tuesday which meant he has today and six more day until the teams are assigned. Wanting to make the most with the time he has, he quickly headed toward the bathroom to get dressed before grabbing all of his stuff and heading toward the clearing he used yesterday. Realizing he was about to skip breakfast and how unwise that form of plan was, Naruto quickly made a clone before handing it some money to grab breakfast. Since he doesn't have to worry about being kicked out or being overcharged anymore, he intended on taking full advantage of the opportunity, which meant buying what he want when he want.

Jumping into the clearing, he set up all of his equipment before doing some light stretches. Moments later, his clone arrived with food consisting of rice, pork, shrimp, and green beans wrapped in several bentos. The clone also brought a bottle of milk as well as five bottles of water. After thanking the clone, Naruto told it to dispel, which the clone complied, feeling satisfied for being thanked by the original. The Naruto also had the warm feeling that was transferred over from the dispel but shrugged it off since the clone felt pretty good about it.

After eating his breakfast and drinking his bottle of milk, he quickly summoned a few clones to start the chakra control exercises as well as to finish the reading while he began his morning workout. During this, he never noticed a pair of light brown, pupil-less eyes watching him from afar.

Three hours later, he collapse on the ground, unable to move and panting heavily. One of his clones, upon seeing the state the original was in, grabbed a bottle of water and handed it toward Naruto. Quickly accepting the offer, he emptied the entire bottle in less than five seconds. The clone that gave him the now emptied bottled sweat-dropped at the sight.

"You alright boss?" asked the clone.

Letting out a breath of relief and wiping his lips, he turned toward the clone who helped him. "Yeah. Thanks for that. These weights that Iruka-sensei and jiji brought restricted my movements, making everything harder to do. It was like doing everything in slow-mo." When Iruka told Ryuu what they would like, he told Ryuu to add other necessaries for shinobi which included weights. The weights that Naruto now wore weighed 15 lbs each and he wore four, two on both legs and two on both arms for a grand total of 60 lbs. This was the first time he ever wore weights so he wasted a few moments getting accustomed to them.

"I can tell. I thought you were about to pass out there boss," replied the clone cheekily while Naruto grumbled about receiving no respect from his clones.

"So how's everybody else doing?" asked Naruto, curious to see the progress his clones made.

"Pretty good boss. I finished my book a little a while ago but that's mostly because it was shorter than the rest. The other should be finished pretty soon. As for the one performing the chakra control exercises, I'd say they're getting there," reported the clone.

Naruto nodded, happy for making some progress before turning to face them. "Alright that's enough! We'll take a break before continuing. Dispel in groups of five every 10 minutes so I don't get that godforsaken headache again if you don't mind," commanded Naruto.

"HAI!" came the replies. Five distinct popping noise were heard later and every 10 minutes as Naruto set in a locust position while sorting through the information transfer. While he did suffered from a minor headache, it wasn't as painful as the one he experienced yesterday, which he was grateful for. Opening his eyes, he stood up and dust off his clothes as he made his way over to grab another bento and devouring it.

After finishing his food and drinking some water, he laid down on the grass facing the sky with his hands behind his head. He took a moment to watch the clouds sailing across the blue sky as he cool down from his workout. He could feel the wind cooling him off and the trees rustling all around him. He could hear the birds chirping and singing nearby as well as other various sounds of nature. Before he had realized it, he had managed to doze off for 30 minutes but felt extremely relaxed. He made a mental note to do it again sometime in the future.

Taking one last moment of laying down, he then reluctantly stood up and began stretching, not wanting his muscles to tighten. Making several more clones, he gave them their assigned order via mental link before grabbing his kodachi and going through a few katas. The figure hidden in the trees never left.

* * *

**Day 2**

Quickly sidestepped a punch, he jumped back to put some distance between him and his attackers. Breathing heavily and suffering from numerous cuts and bruises, he stood his ground against his opponents. Standing in front of him were four clones all determined to beat him into a bloody pulp. The reason for this? He decided to experiment on something he learned from _The Secrets of the Shadow Clones Technique _without reading the warning labels. The result? Four angry clones teaming up for a quest to beat the living daylight out of him.

"You can't run away from us forever you know," stated the clone on the far left.

"We'll follow you wherever you go," stated the one on the left middle.

"And we won't stop," said the one on the right middle.

"Until we," came from the clone on the far right.

"DESTROY YOU!" they finished in perfect synchronization.

Naruto subconsciously took a step by while frantically searched for a way out._ 'Damn it... I can't win against them. A little help here Kyūbi?' _he pleaded.

_**'You're on your own brat,' **_came the reply of the kitsune who somehow got a large bowl of popcorn in front of him. Munching on the popcorn while enjoying his container getting his ass kicked by his copies, he continued. _**'It's your ignorance that you didn't read through all of the instructions before trying this. Now, quit yammering. The popcorn is going cold and the show needs to continue.'**_

_'Screw you-' _he ducked a punch to the head but couldn't avoid a kick that came from his blindside. He flew back several feet before hitting his back against the tree, letting out a painful groan. Slowly getting up, he took a look around, hoping for an opening. He saw one and quickly popped a smoke pellet before making a dash away from the aggressors. _'_-y_ou oversized fox!'_

The Kyūbi shrugged it off as he continue eating his popcorn, not at all worried about the predicament his container was in as the clones began to slowly gain ground.

"Why the fuck does this always happen to me?!" he shouted while picking up speed lest he wants to end up in the hospital.

The mysterious figure who spied on him yesterday tried to keep up as they were holding their stomach and crying from the sheer hilarity of the scene taking place.

At the Hokage Tower, the Sandaime was watching his grandson figure being chased by a pack of angry clones via crystal ball with a smile on his face. He also knew who that mysterious figure was but didn't mind as the show before him was getting even more enjoyable. As Naruto ran face-first into a tree, the Hokage burst out laughing while the figure fell on the ground rolling in fits of laughter. The Kyūbi wasn't faring too good also.

* * *

**Day 3**

After yesterday's incident, which actually did sent him into the hospital for several hours, he returned back to the clearing the next day to continue his training. He has gotten somewhat used to the extra weights on his body due to running and ducking at high speed while being chased by a pack of angry clones. The memories of that incident made Naruto involuntarily shiver as he finishes up his morning exercises. Thanks to the healing power of the kitsune, his muscles was restored at an incredible rate which resulted in having toner muscles in just a few days. He no longer felt as tired as he used to which meant he had to step up his training a notch. He mentally cringe as he imagined the kitsune giving him suggestions for workouts.

Quickly stripping down to nothing but his boxers, he decided to test his water walking skills. His clones were able to master the leaf floating exercise yesterday and were making process toward the tree climbing exercise as well. It was the water walking exercise that needed the most work. Plus, after generating so much sweats from the physical activities, he could go for a swim. He took one step... five steps... 15 steps... SPLASH! He lost his footing on the water surface and sank.

Bubbles began forming as well as a dark spot as Naruto swam toward the surface. Breaking the surface, he gasped for air before sighing. It will be some time before he can perform the exercise flawlessly. Not being one to feel depress, he started doing backstroke while enjoying the calming effects of the water.

After 30 minutes, he eventually got out of the lake and dried himself off before getting dressed. Not wanting to disappoint the Hokage, he begin reading through the instructions as well as the warnings on the experiment he attempted yesterday.

_The Secrets of the Shadow Clones Technique_

_Secret 1: Command Type Clones. If one were to pump more chakra than needed to fabricate a clone, the difference would be enormous. Instead of a normal copy of oneself, these "command clones" will be stronger, on par with the original in all areas_ (This was where Naruto stopped reading and performed the technique. What happened next was, well, you know)._ These clones will have a different persona than the user but will still obey them. However, unlike other clones who will obey without questions, the "command clones" must be beaten in combat first and unlike their counterparts, they can take more than one hit to dispel. Once you beat them in combat, they'll become a powerful tool in your arsenal, able to perform joint attacks and summon and lead other clones into battle._

_Think of it as an army. The leader of the army is of course the general, the user. Since an army is too big for a single person to manage, they have subordinates, or captains, who helps perform the task. These "command clones" are the captains and will only follow you after you've gained their respect._

_Since command type clones require too much chakra to produce, only a person with kage level chakra reserves can summon them. If one were to try to summon more than one at a time in an attempt to beat all of them, the user will die from chakra exhaustion or will have to face identical versions of themselves whose goals are to beat the user by whatever means possible._

After he finished with that section, he facepalmed himself. "I REALLY should have read that before summoning four of them," Naruto grumbled and felt incredibly stupid at the moment. The Kyūbi, of course, didn't help in the situation and threw in his two cents.

_**'You probably should of read a lot of things before rushing in head on. Seriously, it's a miracle you're still alive.'**_

_'Oh can it furball! Who asked you?'_

The Kyūbi chuckled. _**'What? Did I touch a nerve? There's no need to get so worked up brat.'**_ The kitsune truly did enjoy messing with his container. Naruto spent a few minutes cursing at the kitsune before moving on to the next section.

_Secret 2: Clone Teamwork. As the name suggest, having clones is like having teammates. You and your clones will be able to perform joint attacks on opponents just like any teammates would. However, there is a difference. If you did not remember, clones are exact duplicates of yourself therefore what you know, the clones will know. Clones can also act independently if the user commands so. This is where the problem lies. If you are someone who lacks in teamwork, you and your clones will never be able to work together because the clone, your exact copy, wouldn't want anything to do with you. And even if you do have good teamwork, there's the process of having to synchronize your attacks in perfect harmony. This special ability requires a lot of practice in order to master and can only be achieve through hard work. Every users is different from one another therefore there is not a set way of practicing. Some may be required to treat the clones better while others may have to fight them. The possibilities is endless._

Naruto groaned as he finished the second secret. "That would explain why those clones yesterday had such perfect teamwork. They all wanted to beat the crap out of me no matter what. I never stood a chance did I?" Naruto said while rubbing his forehead in frustration.

_**'Nope. Not a snowball chance in hell!'**_ the Kyūbi chimed in.

_'Are you ever going to do anything you damn fox besides criticizing me every 10 minutes?'_

_**'I gave you advice didn't I?' **_he replied in a bored manner while cleaning his claws.

_'If by advice you meant how to almost kill myself then yes, yes you did.' _Naruto countered in a deadpan expression.

_**'Ugh. If I help you, would you leave me alone? You're starting to annoy me.'**_

_'We all know you enjoy our bantering Kyūbi' _Naruto replied while mentally giving the victory sign.

The kitsune grumbled. _**'Go to the library and get more books to read. Your knowledge at the moment is no better than a new born infant. Though, that's an insult to the all the infants.' **_The Kyūbi grinned. He just couldn't resist.

_'Screw you furball!'_ Naruto mentally flipped the Kyūbi off before packing all of his things and headed toward to the library. On his way there, he realized he didn't know what to read first. Deciding to make a quick stop at the Hokage Tower to see if his ojii-san could help him, he changed his destination.

* * *

The Hokage was currently sitting behind his desk reading his _Icha Icha Paradise Volume 5 _while giggling perversely. His clones were busy doing all the paperwork while every now and then grumbling about their "lazy-ass lucky original". A knock on the door followed by "Are you busy jiji?" snapped the Hokage out of his very entertaining chapter. Quickly hiding the book away and slightly upset at not being able to finish it, he composed himself before answering. "Enter."

Naruto opened the door and walked in. Shutting the door behind him, he then looked around the office and saw clones of the Hokage doing paperwork. Not being able to contain the smirk that was growing on his face, "I see you're putting the Shadow Clones to good work jiji."

The Hokage smiled at his grandson figure. He had a grandson yes, but he also treated Naruto like he was his own blood. "Yes I have. It's all thanks to you Naruto-kun. If you hadn't picked up on that fact, I'd still be seeing endless stacks of paperwork on my desk." At this, the clones glared at the original but the Hokage told them to get back to work, which they complied.

Naruto chuckled. "I never thought that the 'Gods of Shinobi' needed to have help from a 12 years old to figure out how to do paperwork." He had a cheekily grin on his face. The Hokage, realizing all of this was true, slumped in his chair while the clones were snickering.

He sighed. "I suppose that's true. Now, onto business." The Hokage suddenly had a look of seriousness on his face. "I assume you weren't here just for a social meeting, right Naruto-kun?"

Naruto adapted a similar expression but it wasn't as potent as the Hokage's. It still had a hint of mischief and carefree attitude. "Well, I was on my way to the library to pick up a few more books when I realized I didn't know what to read first. I didn't want to waste my time reading something I would never use so I decided to come and ask for your advice jiji."

The Hokage soften his expression. He had a proud look in his eyes. Proud how much Naruto had matured in just a short amount of time. _'At this rate, I'll have no doubt you'll become one of, if not, the strongest shinobi in all of the Five Great Nations.' _"I see. I'm proud of you Naruto-kun." Seeing his confused face, he decided to elaborate. "You came asking for help because you didn't know what to do. Most shinobi would have kept their pride and tried to figure it out themselves. If you were on the battlefield and had no idea what to do, you would have to ask your teammates for their opinions rather than ignoring them and doing what you want.

Such carelessness is unfitting of a shinobi. By asking for someone's opinion, you state that you're not afraid to ask for help and value what they have to say. This is important in decisions which death is a possibility. Showing leadership and swallowing your pride when you know you need help are qualities that we look for in Chūnin and Jōnin ranked shinobi. There are other qualities as well but this is a part of it. I am very proud of you Naruto-kun."

Naruto swelled up at the high praise and trying his best to fight in the tears. Failing to do so, he ran toward the Hokage to give him a hug. Letting go of the Hokage, "Thanks ojii-san. I promise I'll make you proud!" he exclaimed, still with teary eyes.

The Sandaime had a warm smile. "I don't doubt it. Now, as for your reading materials," Naruto gave a sheepish look as he forgot why he was in the office in the first place due to the moment just now. The Hokage pulled out a scroll and started writing the names of some books. "Here is a list of books that I recommend for you. I suggest you take your time reading these Naruto. We wouldn't want you to collapse again due to mental exhaustion now do we?" His smile never leaving his face.

Naruto's eyes began to widen. "How did you know?"

The Hokage chuckled while holding his pipe in front of his face. "I'm the Hokage Naruto. I know a lot of things that goes on around the village." Naruto accepted the answer and grabbed the scroll before making his way toward the door. With a good-bye, he left. The Hokage sighed. "I'm glad he didn't asked me about the crystal ball. With that prankster nature of his, I dare not imagine what Naruto would do." He shuddered as well as his clones.

* * *

20 minutes later, Naruto and a clone came out of the library carrying the books the Hokage suggested. Naruto was glad for the fact that the library didn't have a limit on how many books a person can check out at a time. As he was walking down the street toward his apartment, a kid in a yellow shirt wearing a blue scarf and a helmet bump into him and fell backward on his butt. "Ow..." said the kid, "Watch where you're going!" He pumped his fist toward Naruto.

"Me?!" Naruto grew a tick mark. "You're the one who should have been paying attention!"

"Hey! Who do you think you are talking to me like that? Do you know who I am?"

Naruto had a bored expression on his face before replying. "Do I care?" and walked away. The child watch as Naruto moved pass him and then saw a copy carrying some stuff. Realizing that Naruto was different from everybody else, he followed.

A few minutes passed as Naruto and his clones walked down the street. "Hey boss..."

"Yeah. I know." Naruto groaned. Without even looking, he could tell he was being followed by the same kid as before. Deciding this had gone on long enough, he turned around. "What do you think you're-" There on the ground was a square rock with two eye holes in the front. His eyebrow twitched. "This has to be the most pathetic excuse for a disguise I've ever seen." Quickly forming the cross sign, he summoned a clone and handed them the books. "Take the books home and start reading them. I'll deal with this." With two "HAI!", the clones left.

Walking up toward the square rock, he looked at it for a moment before kicking it. "What do you think you're doing?"

The rock disappeared into smoke. "So you saw through my disguise. I knew you were strong! You have to be if you were able to make that solid clone of yours. Teach me boss!" The child had stars in his eyes and his hands in a begging manner.

Naruto sighed. "As must as I would love to, I have to continue my training. I don't have time. Sorry kid." Naruto didn't noticed the kid calling him boss just now.

But said kid didn't give up. "Oh come on! You can make clones! Why not make one and teach me?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, belittling himself for not thinking of it sooner. But first, "Don't you have a sensei or something?"

The kid's shoulders slumped and lowered his gaze toward the ground, kicking a few rocks away. "Yeah, but he doesn't teaches me anything. All he does is lectures me and talks about theories and stuff. It's all good and all but I've never performed any of the things he'd taught!"

"Why?" Naruto asked in clear confusion. After all, you learn by doing.

"It's because I'm the 'Honorable Grandson of the Sandaime Hokage' that he doesn't want me to hurt myself." The kid lowers his gaze toward the ground. "Nobody ever sees me as Konohamaru Sarutobi. All they see is the Honorable Grandson." He said in a mocking tone, clearly upset.

Naruto's eyes softened. _'He's just like me,'_ Naruto realized. _'He wants people to see him as a person, not as the shadow of his grandfather.'_ Sighing as what he was about to do, "Alright. You got yourself a deal. But lose the helmet. It's stupid."

Konohamaru perked up. Then, "But, what should I wear instead?" he asked.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. _'Probably a kid's thing.'_ Reaching into his jacket, he pulls out a pair of goggles he used to wear. Smiling as he took a trip down memory lane, he gave Konohamaru his goggles. "Here. I used to wear these when I was an Academy Student. I think these will look good on you."

Konohamaru took off his helmet and put on the goggles Naruto gave him. "It fits just right!" He exclaimed with a smile on his face. "So when do we start boss?"

Making a clone, "Naruto. The name's Naruto." He gave Konohamaru a warm smile. And with that, he turned and walked away. He threw a wave over his shoulders as Konohamaru saluted him.

* * *

After saying his goodbyes, he made his way toward the clearing once more. Unbeknownst to him, the place he trained was Training Ground 43, which was located next to the Forest of Death, the rumored home of a certain individual. It was upon entering the area that he noticed something was off. His uneasiness saved him from a kunai that whizzed by. Dropping from the branch, he made several clones and order them to search for the attacker. Several minutes passed and nothing. Naruto began sweating and slowly reached for the kodachi he now has on his back. A few days ago, he asked Ryuu for a scabbard for his sword so that he could attach the kodachi to a part of his body. When Ryuu asked for the reason, out of curiosity, Naruto said it was because it didn't feel like wrapping and unwrapping the cloth that held his kodachi every time he uses it. He found the method too... troublesome. A certain Nara sneezed that day and knew someone was talking about him but found the whole thing too damn troublesome.

The moment he did this, however, several kunai and shurikens came out from the bush on his left. Realizing he couldn't deflect all of them, he jumped and threw a few of his own toward the location of his attacker. Several thuds were heard as they missed their targets and were embedded on the tree. Cursing for the miss, he frantically searched the area around him. He heard a sound on his right and quickly pulled out his kodachi. It was not a moment too late as he begin a battle of physical power against his attacker. As he took a glance at his attacker's face, his eyes widen. He momentarily loosen his grip and the attacker used this opportunity to throw him a punch in the face.

He stumbled back and received a kick to the stomach and ended up flying backward into a tree. A groan escaped his mouth as he winced in pain. The attacker stood in front of him with a sadistic grin on their face while twirling a kunai. "Is that all you've got gaki?" asked the figure, who had a feminine voice. Naruto slowly raised his head to look at the figure in front of him. Starting from the bottom up, he saw she wore a pair of black sandals and had gray ANBU style shin guards. She wore a dark orange-miniskirt and a mesh body suit from the thighs up as well as a tan overcoat. She had light brown, pupil-less eyes and the Konoha's headband tied around her forehead. Her hair was violent and shaped in a short, spiky, and fanned-ponytail, kind of like a pineapple. The coat and fishnet barely covered her assets as Naruto tried really hard not to look at them.

"What - ugh - do you want?" It pained him to even talk.

"Oh nothing." She had a carefree tone. "I just want to see what you got. So far, not impressed." She began picking her fingernails, showing her lack of interest at Naruto. Her nonchalant manner was getting on Naruto's nerves and thus he tried to stand up. WHOOSH! Six thuds were heard and Naruto could no longer move. He looked around and saw several kunai pinning him to the tree. "Nuh uh uh," she wagged her finger in front of him. "I wouldn't try that if I were you. I might 'accidentally' miss next time." Her sadistic grin sent shivers down Naruto's spine.

Remembering there were still a few clones out, he gave them a mental command to ambush the kunoichi. Said woman sensed them coming and, reaching into her pouch, pulled out several shurikens and threw them. Three pops later, Naruto began to sweat. The kunoichi in front of him was indeed powerful if she could sense his clone sneaking up behind her. Realizing he doesn't stand a chance against her, he decided to stall for time, in hopes of someone coming to rescue him. "W-w-who are you?" The nervousness in his voice made her grin even wider.

"I'm Anko Mitarashi." Her wicked grin never leaving her face.

* * *

**Timeskip: Day 7 (Four days later)**

Panting and sweating up a storm, Naruto collapse on the grass, struggling to regain his breath. His clothes were all torn up and he had several shallow cuts throughout his body. Standing above him was Anko with a smirk on her face, obviously enjoying running Naruto through the mill. They have just finished practicing his dodge and evade skills with what Naruto liked to call "death tag". It's pretty simple really. Three days ago went Anko confronted Naruto, she was curious at what the blond was doing. After seeing him train for three days, she wanted to see his skills with her own eyes. She knows Naruto showed potential but would never admit it. She told him what areas he needs to work on and offered her assistance. The result? Naruto ended up running high speed through the forest while Anko throws kunai, shurikens, and even senbons from her finished dangos at him while he tries his best to avoid them

The first day of training, she decided to go easy and used only senbons. Suffice to say, he was mistaken for a blond porcupine on the way home.

The second day of training, Anko decided to test him on his kenjutsu skills by engaging him in close combat with a kunai and then throw various projectiles while he attempts to deflect them all. The keyword is attempt.

The third and fourth day were, well, hellish to say the least. Wanting to keep Naruto on guard, Anko made a clone of herself and order it to throw projectiles while she engaged him up close. Naruto's screams could be heard for miles as he futility ran away from the "psycho woman".

"Alright gaki. That's enough for today." Naruto slumped his shoulders in relief. "You're getting better. Out of the 100 projectiles I threw, only 50 made contact. Quite an improvement from the original 80." Her smirk widen and she saw Naruto shudder at the memory. "Well, that just means I'll have to try harder next time. Good thing too because I was getting bored." Naruto jerked his head up at look only to see her sadistic grin in place.

"Something tells me I won't live if you were to do that," he complained.

"Aww don't be like that," Anko cooed. "You should be glad I'm not your sensei. The things I would have taught you would have made this looks like child's play."

"If I survive..." he mumbled.

"Oi!" Anko mood turned a complete 180 and she clapped her hands together. "No more depressing thoughts! You survived four days under my tutelage didn't you?" Naruto slowly nodded. "This calls for a celebration!" She pumped her fist in the air before picking up Naruto, despite his protests, and carried him like a sack of potatoes toward the dango stand.

"Hey! Put me down!" He fruitlessly struggled but was too tired from the "death tag" to break free.

"No~pe!" Anko chimed. "I've helped you trained. The least you could do is buy me some dangos!"

Realizing Anko did indeed helped Naruto train, even if it was unorthodox, he wondered how much money it was going to cost him. Deciding it was a small price to pay for her help, he sighed. "Fine..."

Anko grinned and licked her lips. "Good answer." Naruto shuddered at what could have happened if he had said no.

* * *

At the dango stand, Anko happily munch on the dangos two at a time while Naruto stared in disbelief, holding his red bean soup. _'Is this how I act when it comes to ramen?'_

_**'Yes,' **_the kitsune said in a deadpan manner, while wondering if the two were somehow related.

_'I'll need to work on my manners then.'_

_**'You think?'**_

His eyebrow twitched but chose to ignore it as he continued watching Anko chow down on her 15th dango stick. Seeing how much she was eating, he got out his wallet and counted how much ryo he had left. 15,000 ryō. He spent quite a lot this week on fixing his clothes, buying food, getting heavier weights, not to mention this would have been the second time he's paying for Anko's dangos. He sighed. He was just glad the teams will be announced tomorrow and he could finally go on missions and get some commerce.

After finishing her dangos, she bid Naruto a farewell and wished him luck on the new team. Naruto returned the good bye but couldn't shake the nervousness off. Tomorrow was the day he will officially be a shinobi. It will also be the day he would start changing people's opinions of him. Paying for the food, which costed 12,500 ryō, much to his dismays, he left and headed home.

As he walked home, he reflected on what happened this week. No longer was he wearing his orange jumpsuits and goggles. He outfit had changed completely. Gone was the jumpsuit and replaced with a dark orange jacket with black sleeves and black pants. Where his goggles used to be now contain his headband. Attached to his back, in a slightly diagonal position, was his kodachi, which he had been practicing with. His muscle became toner and he lost some baby fat on his face. He grew 2 inches thanks to his now healthy diet, much to the Kyūbi's happiness. He appears slightly older than what a 12 years old should look like.

He found people who cared about him. Naruto smiled as he remember the note Iruka left and how the Hokage made sure he was no longer mistreated while in stores. He also remembered the first time he used a hot shower and how grateful he was to have taken Iruka's explanation on a healthy diet to heart.

Not to mention the "psycho lady". While she did ran him into the ground, she offered her help and Naruto could feel himself becoming stronger. He had learn from her that she worked at the Torture and Interrogation Building and loved to make people scream in pain and beg for mercy. Naruto shuddered at what he imagined her doing to get that kind of react out of people. She even had a habit of teasing and flirting with people, not to mention her outfit, which was a bit revealing. She occasionally tease him about it which cause a blush to spread every time. Through it all, she was alright in Naruto's book. Nobody is perfect and everyone had flaws of some sort.

And then there was Konohamaru. Naruto chuckled. The kid wouldn't stop calling him boss after that day, even after he labeled him as his rival. He remembered talking some sense into Konohamaru's head about how shortcuts are not the way to go if he ever wanted to be Hokage. Then the incident with his trainer who turned out to be a closet pervert.

Most importantly, he remembered how much the Kyūbi had helped him. Sure the fox didn't do much but he gave Naruto advice. That was more than what most people would have done. The kitsune healed Naruto's injuries and body thus making him grow and heal faster than a normal person. Not to mention he could feel the Kyūbi warming up to him. After all, why would the fox banter with him so much if he hated Naruto?

_**'I do hate you brat,' **_he grumbled, hating the fact Naruto was thinking less and less of him.

_'I love you too furball!'_

Immediately upon entering his room, he threw his clothes on the bed before heading in the bathroom for a hot shower. Doing his regular bedtime routine, he slipped into his pajamas, turned off the lights, and crawled into bed. Not feeling particularly tired at the moment, he continue staring at the ceilings, wondering what tomorrow would bring for him.

_'Would I be placed on a team I like? What if I hate the team? What if my sensei doesn't want anything to do with me? What if-'_

_**'SHUT THE HELL UP BRAT! I'M TRYING FREAKING TO SLEEP!'**_

Naruto winced at the kitsune's yelling before sleep took him and he began drifting.

Tomorrow would be interesting. No doubt it.

* * *

**Revised 4/9/2015 - Minor changes in Anko's character. Yes people, she's going to be the sadistic, bloodthirsty, sexy, and flirty character since it's so entertaining to have that sort of character in any story. A bit more information on Anko and Naruto friendship and background. Previous versions the same.**

**Revised 4/12/2015 - Use of special characters. Added ' ' around thoughts and underlined techniques. Not yet BETA by SRB so no serious changes.**

**Revised 4/20/2015 - Ryos to ryō and changed a few prices and minor grammar problems. Not yet BETA.**

**Revised 6/13/2015 - Grammar, Spelling, and added arc. **

**Revised 1/1/2016 – The usual. Changed kit to brat.**

**Name: Naruto Uzumaki**

**Age: 12**

**Birthday: October 10th**

**Rank: D-***

**Titles: Genin, Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead, Prankster King from Hell, Jinchuriki, Demon Child, Blond Menace, Brat, Boss, Gaki***

**Affiliation: Konohagakure**

**Taijutsu: E+***

**Ninjutsu: D-**

**Genjutsu: E**

**Kenjutsu: D***

**Other Skills: D+***

**Money: 2,500 ryō***

*** signifies changes**

**The titles will be there until people stop calling him that, which could take awhile.**

**Woo! I totally winged the whole thing. Longest chapter so far. Can't believe it. I'm actually going to take a few days off to make a few notes because, originally, my notes never made it past this chapter. Plus, real life stuff *shrug*. It won't take more than a few days. And Naruto finally moved up from an E-ranked!**

**The whole Madara and Hashirama thing with the Kyūbi was something that came to me while recalling what Naruto could have learned from the books. I'm kind of surprised it flowed nicely because I had no idea where I was going with it at one point. As for not mentioning three of the books he read, two of them (about manners and geography) were irrelevant while the third (Konoha's Clans), well, let just say that all Naruto needs to know in this is chapter is that the red-eyed people (Uchiha) can control the bijus.**

**I have no idea how I got on the topic of the food pyramid. All I wanted was for Iruka to somehow explain to Naruto the benefits of proper dieting and there it came!**

**The command type clones idea came from two stories. I forgot the other but one of them was **_**A Sealed Kunai**_**. The clones there could easily go toe-to-toe with high-ranked shinobi.**

**What the Hokage said to Naruto about why he was proud of him was something I made up on the fly. It was so hard trying to make it sound like something he would say and how true it should be. The same could be said about the explanations from the Shadow Clones Book. I impress even myself *pat myself on the back***

**I wanted to change Konohamaru and Naruto's interaction a bit. The canon was too long winded. I shorten it a bit while retaining a few key parts. Since Naruto is taking advantage of the Shadow Clones, why not make him to teach Konohamaru? Plus, it was probably my favorite scene by far. Short, concise, and touchy *sniff*.**

**I have no experience in writing fight scenes so I had to keep it short and concise but also entertaining.**

**The quick recap toward the end was for the readers, and me, to remember what Naruto looks like and how much has changed. It was my longest chapter by far ._.**

**Naruto won't always use clones to train or read because of the mental requirements. He'll do it every once in awhile and then takes a break from it so he doesn't suffer from mental fatigue. It a way of accelerating his growth but not overdoing it. For example, when he trained with Anko, he never used the clones because he needed a break from it. Or I just forgot to add it... Oh well.**

**I made some minor changes in the previous chapters and will probably do the same here since I'm pretty sure more can be added. This was kind of a rush toward the end because I wanted to post this as soon as possible.**

**By the way, the poll is up. I named the girls from the Konoha 12 before making general choices. You'll see what I mean in my profile.**

**I'll be revising the written chapters until I decide on how to proceed. Cya in a few days!**


	5. Teams

**First of all, I would like to give a shout out to all of my readers out there. Thank you for liking story as well as posting reviews! I'll admit, when I first started this story, I was a little worried about it being, what's the word, awful. Like I've mentioned before, English is not my strong point. I had to reread my chapters many times and spotted so many grammar and spelling errors. I've almost memorized each lines word for word... Anyways, thanks for sticking with me through it all! You guys are the best! If you spot any holes or typos in my chapters, feel free to post a review or PM me about it. I'd like to hear how my story is from a reader's point of view. Well, that's enough of that. On with the show! Er, story!**

* * *

**Development Arc: 4 of 6.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the stories mentioned in Author's Notes.**

* * *

**Inside Naruto's Mindscape...**

"... Do you think that will happen?"

**"No."**

"But what if it does?"

**"I doubt."**

"Yeah. You're right. I'm just being silly."

**"Geez you think?"**

"Oi! Why do you have to be so mean?"

**"I don't know. Why do you have to be so damn annoying?"**

"Hey! I resent that!"

**"Damn it brat! Don't you have something better to do? You're getting on my nerves," **he growled. They have been at this endless questions game for the past four hours. Naruto couldn't contain his anxiety because the teams will be announced in just a few hours, therefore, he wondered into the mindscape and started asking the kitsune about possible scenarios of what could go wrong. Suffice to say, the Kyūbi was near his snapping point.

"I'm sorry... I'm just really nervous."

**"Really? I haven't noticed," **his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey! There's no need for the sarcasm you know." Naruto pouted and crossed his arms.

**"And there's no need for you to be bothering me, yet you do it anyways," **the Kyūbi shot back.

"Well, I have no one else to talk to."

**"That's not my problem."**

"Oi!"

**"Damn it brat. SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY!" **the Kyūbi finally snapped. He gritted his large teeth together as several veins started popping out on his head as well as tick marks. His red-silted eyes, if it was even possible, turned even redder as he glared at Naruto.

"Ok ok. I'm sorry." Naruto placed both hands in a surrendering manner. "Sheesh. What got you in a mood?"

**"You,"** he growled, half-tempted to just kill his container then and there. Consequences be damned.

Naruto sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Look. I'm sorry ok? I'm just really nervous about tomorrow." The Kyūbi rolled his eyes. This was the 10th time Naruto had used that excuse. "What do you want me to do? I mean, it's not like I can make tomorrow come any sooner."

**"I don't care. Just leave me the hell alone."**

"Ok fine! Thanks for nothing furball!" And with that, Naruto finally left. The Kyūbi let out a breath of relief. Never in his entire life had he ever met a human that could be so damn annoying. Finally, after hours of his container's annoying yammering, he was about to have some peace and quiet. He made himself as comfortable as he could as his eyes slowly closes. Just when he was about to let sleep overcome him...

"Hey, furball."

**"DAMN IT BRAT!"** He tackled the gate, hoping to somehow get to Naruto. As he failed his first attempt, he tried again. And again. And again. The sounds of the kitsune slamming head-first into the sealed gate echoed throughout the mindscape. Naruto, realizing this was a bad time, slowly started to back away from it, while watching in morbid curiosity at what seems to be the legendary Kyūbi repeatedly banging his head against the metal bars.

* * *

Naruto slowly opens his eyes and blinked a few times to get accustomed to the darkness. He turned toward the left to look outside the window and noticed that the sun hasn't even came up on the horizon yet. He then turns right toward his clock and saw it was 5 am. He sighed. He still had two more hours until he had to go to the academy. Deciding he couldn't go back to sleep and how unwise it would have been to visit the kitsune after his little episode, he made his way toward the bathroom.

If he were to enter his mindscape, he would have saw that the Kyūbi had passed out on the floor after the repeated attempts to break the gate with his head. If a female were to see the Kyūbi, they would have squealed at the adorable sight before them. The almighty, all powerful Kyūbi, feared throughout the Five Great Nations, was currently laying on his back with his paws in front of him, like a dog, snoring away while drooling. And every once in a while, his ears and nose would twitch as well as his hind legs.

20 minutes later, after a nice hot shower to calm his nerves, he stepped out of the bathroom, while still in his robes, and made his way toward the kitchen. Deciding to make himself some breakfast, he opened the fridge to inspect what he had. _'Let's see... Eggs, tomatoes, onions, milk, apple, orange...'_ After a few moments of sorting through the fridge, he decided to make himself an omelet, drink a glass of orange juice, and then have an apple afterward. As he was enjoying his breakfast, his thoughts headed toward same of the books his ojii-san recommended for him.

* * *

_Flashback_

_After being dismissed by the original, the two clones made their way home. As they arrived, they began setting down all of the books in a a corner before they started reading. One of the clones read a book on cooking while the other about kitchen appliances. As they were reading, they also chatted among themselves on what their respective book was about._

_"Did you know there's a recipe in here about an omelet?" asked one of the clones_. (We'll call this clone A and the other clone B).

_Clone B blinked. "Uh, what's an hom-less?"_

_Clone A sighed. "It's pronounced omelet." Clone B gave a sheepish smile. "And it's beaten eggs cooked with butter or oil."_

_Clone B drooled. "That sounds delicious!" Then blinked. "But we don't know how to cook."_

_Clone A raised an eyebrow. "What about that book you're reading? The one on kitchen appliances?"_

_"I haven't gotten there yet. I'm on the part on how to use a toaster, whatever that is." Clone B shrugged._

_"Well, hurry it up. I want to surprise the boss when he gets home!" As the two clones began planning their surprise, they were completely oblivious to the fact that Naruto was running for his life from one purple-haired kunoichi._

_Two hours later, the clones began making an omelet. Clone A read the instructions while clone B operated the stove. As the door creaked opened, they turned and saw a battered and bruised original making his way in._

_"What happened to you boss?" The two of them asked in unison before turning toward each other, blinking, and then looking back at the original._

_"I met a sadistic psycho woman." And then Naruto collapsed on the floor._

_"Boss!"_

_Clone A went to check on Naruto while the other quickly finishes the omelet. After preparing it on a plate and setting it on the table, the two of them helped set Naruto in a chair before feeding him._

_"Mmm... What is this?" asked Naruto with his eyes still closed and chewing the mysterious food in his mouth._

_"It's an omelet boss. I found a recipe for it in a cook book while he learned how to use a stove from a kitchen appliance manual," replied clone A._

_Opening his eyes, he looked at the clones in disbelief. "You cooked this?!"_

_The clones each scratched their respective heads while giving a sheepish smile. "Yup! So, what do you think boss? Is it good?"_

_Naruto grabbed the fork before taking another bite. "Good? It's amazing! It's almost as good as ramen!" And with that, he wolfed down the meal. The two clones exchanged high-fives while wearing a proud expression on their faces. "This is... Wow. Thank you. This is the best present ever. Thank you."_

_The clones began to tear up as they began moving in for a group hug. "You're welcome boss."_

_After their warm moment, Naruto asked for them to dispel, which they complied, and started cleaning up. Looking over at the stack of books and realizing he wasn't as tired as he was anymore, he quickly made a few clones to begin some light reading. He did his bedtime routine before grabbing a book and joining his clones as they read. The clones, having seen the original joining them, smiled at their boss. Naruto returned the smile as he began reading as the clones resumed theirs. Some hours later, multiple snoring could be heard from inside the room as Naruto and his clones all fell asleep with their books on their faces. When Naruto woke up the next morning, he suffered from a massive headache but was proud of the fact he had learned so much and that his clones came through for him._

* * *

Naruto smiled as he reminisced on what his clones did for him. Sure, it was a little weird to receive a surprise from oneself but in all fairness, his life hasn't been all that normal to begin with. First, as a boy, he was hated and scorned instead of being treated like an actual child. Second, when he was an academy student, he was able to outsmart Chūnin and Jōnin class shinobi on a daily basis for fun. And lastly, what normal kid has a bijū living inside of them? Shrugging off on how "normal" his life has been, he quickly finishes his breakfast before taking a glance at the clock.

5:35 am.

_'Still over an hour before I have to be at the academy,' _he inwardly mused. After Naruto washed the dishes, he then made his way toward his closet. Upon seeing his new outfit, he couldn't help but wonder how people will think of his new look. _'I wonder if my friends will notice me without my jumpsuit...' _He then chuckled. _'Of course they would. How many blond-haired, orange wearing shinobi do they know?' _And quickly got dressed. As he was about to exit his room, he took one last look around the room and saw his sword. Next to it lays all of his library books. After a few minutes of inwardly debating whether or not he should bring his kodachi with him, he grabbed the sword as well as a basic book on fuinjutsu and headed out the door.

As he strolled around the village, he couldn't help but notice at how quiet it was when nobody was around. He supposed that he shouldn't be that surprised since it's not even six yet and people are still sleeping. As he observed his surroundings, he remembers how busy Konoha was and who was set up there, there, and, _'Oh I hated that guy.'_

After doing a quick reminiscing and plotting revenge on who treated him badly, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and blinked. So caught up in his plotting and trip down memory lane that he didn't even noticed he had reached the Eastern Sector of the village, the direction of where his training area was. Deciding it was probably a good place to wait since no one else is up yet, Naruto headed toward Training Ground 43. Since he didn't want to get sweaty when he meets with his team later on, he decided to walk there while enjoying the scenery.

20 minutes of walking later, Naruto began hearing the animals in the forest waking up as the sun began to rise. The birds began chirping and flying; the squirrels got out of their nests and ran around; and the cat began meowing. Naruto stopped in his tracks and blinked. _'Was that a...'_

"Meow." Naruto raised an eyebrow and began following the sound he had heard coming from his right. As the sounds grew closer and closer, Naruto questioned why a cat was out in the forest in the first place. Not wanting to scare the thing, he approached the spot quietly and hid behind a bush. Gently pulling down a branch, he observed the scene in front of him.

There laying in front of a tree was a brown-furred, frighten looking cat. She (He assumes it was a she) had a line going down her forehead with three lines going across it and her eyes were of amber color. The reason Naruto suspects, and hopes, it was a she was because of the red ribbon on their right ear. Since he figured it would have been wrong of him to leave the thing there, he came out of the bush and slowly approaches it. The cat, upon seeing Naruto, hissed, causing him to stop and place his hands in a surrendering manner, showing her he meant no harm.

"Easy there. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to bring you back to the village."

The cat, who understood a fair amount of what Naruto had said, hissed. There was no way in hell she was going back to that woman if she had any say in it. Deciding that escape was the best choice of action, the feline jumped over Naruto, into a branch, and dashed away.

Naruto blinked. One second the cat was on the ground and the next she was gone like a shinobi. Wanting to learn the identity of said ninja cat, he took off after it. The game of cat and mouse had begun, though who was the cat and who was the mouse was anyone guesses. After all, both of them had their fair share of escaping from shinobi.

* * *

Panting slightly from the now 30-minute-long chase, he decided to take a quick stop to assess his situation. There was a cat. And she was outsmarting him. _'Yup... That pretty much sums everything up.' _He sighed. _'How is it that a cat is outsmarting me, the so-called Prankster King from Hell?' _And just like that, an idea popped into his head, but not before he smacked himself in the face for not thinking about it sooner. _'If I can't chase her, I can trap her. Why didn't I think of it sooner? Seriously, what's wrong with me?' _As he was belittling himself, said feline was observing him from afar, hoping he had given up the chase.

Taking some time to plot, _'Yeah... That'll work. Now, to set the trap...'_ Naruto looked around for any signs of the cat before sighing in frustration. "I've wasted too much time. They're probably starting the announcements already. Can't believe I got outsmarted by a feline," he grumbled before turning around and heading toward the village. He knew where the cat was, but he also knew that said cat was highly intelligence. If he were to have any chance of setting his plan into motion, he would have to put on his best performance or else he would have been back to square one.

After a good distance, he made the signature cross sign to summon 20 clones and had them transformed into animals except for one. Wanting extra insurance in case the ninja cat decided to follow him, he gave the untransformed clone the command to head back toward the village while he himself hid among the remaining copies. Not wanting to lose track of the feline, he and his clones surrounded the area. At the original's signal, they closed in on the target.

* * *

Back at the place before, the cat sighed in relief. She had managed to escape her pursuers yet again. Feeling particularly proud at herself and a bit hungry, she started looking around for food. She dropped down from the tree she was in and paid close attention to the sounds.

"Squeak."

Her ears twitched. The only animals that squeaked, to her knowledge, was a mouse. She licked her lips in anticipation. She always did loved hunting rodents. It was a chance for her to play the role of the hunter instead of the hunted for once. Lowering her body to the ground and walking as quietly as she could, she began her hunt.

* * *

Naruto had to crack a smile. Of course, if one didn't know it was Naruto, all they would find is a bird smiling at a cat for some odd reason. His plan to catch that demon cat was finally working. After having one of the clones transform into a juicy-looking mouse, the rest transformed into various animals to watch her from afar. Naruto chose a bird and as such, he is currently observing said cat from atop of a tree as his transformed clones slowly made their way toward the ambush site. The plan was simple. First, transform into animals. Second, act as animally as you can. Third, lead the cat into a place with restricted movements. And lastly, capture said feline. She won't know what hit her.

* * *

As she follows the noise, she noticed the same animals have been sort of following her. Deciding not to dwell so much on that matter since her meal was near, she ignored them as she approaches her prey. Said prey was currently standing on top of a rock in the middle of a small clearing looking toward the sky.

SNAP!

She froze. Looking down and slowly lifting her paw, she saw that she accidentally stepped on a twig. Looking back at her prey, she saw it looking toward her direction, sniffing the air. Realizing this was her only chance, she readied herself for the pounce. The mouse's ear twitched. She leaped. What she saw next was black.

* * *

Standing in the clearing while holding a sack from who knows where, Naruto observed his catch. _'One angry demon cat in a sack. Check.'_ And with that, he turned around to head back to the village. Of course, not without giving a round of high-fives and congratulatory around to his clones for a job well done.

Realizing he wasted quite a lot of time on the chase/hunt, he quickly tries to locate the sun while making a mental note to get a watch or something. Upon seeing it, he looked toward the shadow and his eyes widen.

It was 6:45. He had only 15 minutes to get to class unless he wanted to be late on his first day with his new team. With that thought in mind, he dispelled the clones and threw the sack over his back, despite the angry shrieking noises coming from within, and took off toward the village.

* * *

**10 minutes later...**

The students were electrified. In only a few moments, they would leave the Ninja Academy not as Academy Students but as Genin, the first rank of a shinobi. Many talked about the adventures they were going to have the moment they left the building while others thought of who they would be teamed up with and who wouldn't be on their team. With a loud slam, all of the students in the classroom turned around and saw Naruto, with his hands on his knees and a sack in his right hand, panting heavily. Of course, nobody knew who the person was until they saw his whisker marks and blond hair.

"Naruto?" He looks up.

Stilling panting, "Hi *pant* Kiba. How's *pant* it's going?"

"Uh fine? What are you doing here? Didn't you fail the graduation exams? And what's with the change of clothes? Not that I'm complaining," asked Kiba Inuzuka. He wore a gray, fur-lined coat and dark gray pants and blue sandals. He has silted black eyes, messy brown hair, sharp nails and fangs, and red fang marking symbolizing his clan on his cheeks. In his jacket was his companion, Akamaru, who was a small puppy with white fur who resembles a Great Pyrenees.

"Arf!" the dog chimed in.

Taking a few breaths to compose himself before answering, "Yeah, but I sort of took another test later on." He pointed toward the hitai-ate on his forehead with his left thumb. "As you can see I've graduated. As for the clothes, I just thought it was time for a change."

Kiba observed him for a moment before scoffing. "You may have changed your looks but you're still the dead-last."

"Arf!"

Naruto grew a tick mark. "Oi! I've been training my ass off the last week!"

"Yeah? Well good for you. But you still can't beat me." He had an arrogant smirk on his face.

"Oh yeah? You want to go?!" At this point, Naruto had dropped the sack on the ground and stared at Kiba right in the eyes.

"Bring it on!"

As lightning could be seen emitting from each other, a voice suddenly broke them up. "Guys." They turned toward the voice. "Don't you think having a fight inside of a classroom would be incredibly stupid, not to mention, insane with everyone else possibly getting caught in the crossfire?" Naruto and Kiba glanced at each other before hanging their heads in shame. Akamaru just stick his tongue out and smile.

"We're sorry, Shikamaru," they replied in unison. Shikamaru Nara wore a gray jacket with green edge over a mesh T-shirt with grayish-brown pants and blue sandals. His headband was tied around his left arm and on his ears were a pair of silver hoop earrings. He had black, pineapple-styled hair and a lazy expression on his face.

"Troublesome," he muttered and turned back to resume his nap but not before eyeing Naruto's clothes and his kodachi for a bit. While he did find the whole thing troublesome and wouldn't had interfered under normal circumstances, the fact that they were about to fight and possibly drag him into the mix quickly made him sprung into action. It was either break up the fight before it starts or somehow get involved in said fight. All it mattered to him was which was less troublesome...

"Psst. Hey Kiba," whispered Naruto.

"What is it Naruto?" Kiba whispered back.

"I think the only reason Shikamaru stopped the fight was so he could sleep in peace."

"Yeah, well, that's Shikamaru for ya. Always thinking about his sleep." Kiba shook his head. While the three of them might always bicker and tease one another, they were close friends. You know what they say: once a partner-in-crime, always a partner-in-crime. Or something. And the three of them, with the addition of Shikamaru and one other friend, always used to ditch school together. Naruto nodded his head in agreement. "So Naruto. What's in the sack?"

Naruto looked at Kiba in confusion before remembering about said sack. "Oh that. Yeah I found a cat in the forest and chased after it. I kept the cat in the sack so it wouldn't try and escape." Kiba, as well as the rest of the class minus Shikamaru and Akamaru, shrugged at the response. It wouldn't be the first time Naruto brought weird stuff into class. Or the first time he had a cat in a sack. As the commotions began to die down, everybody resumed what they were doing before. Naruto took this as an opportunity to see what his fellow classmates were up to.

Sitting in the back by the window was Shino Aburame. He was the tallest student in the room and had dark, busty, brown hair. He always wore blue sandals, brown pants and a sea-green jacket with a high, upturned collar hiding the bottom half of his face. He always had his sunglasses on and loved to play with bugs. Naruto didn't particularly mind the bugs as long as they didn't bother him. But the only thing that did bothers him about Shino was his way of talking. It was always so logical and in a monotone. It was kind of creepy. Some time, Naruto didn't have any idea of what the guy was even talking about.

Shino, feeling that he was being watched, turned and saw Naruto. The two of them eyed each other for a while before Shino nodded. Thinking he might offend Shino if he doesn't response soon, he returned the nod. Shino turned and resume back to whatever it was he was doing. Naruto blinked before looking around the room for any more of his friends.

Sitting next to Shikamaru was their pal Chōji Akimichi. He wore black shorts, a long white scarf, and a short-sleeved green haori over a light-green shirt with a pair of blue sandals. He had spiky, brown hair and swirl marks on his cheeks. His legs and forearms were wrapped in bandages for some reason and he always carries around a bag of chips. Upon seeing Naruto, Chōji greeted him with a wave which Naruto happily return. Chōji was very sensitive about his weight and since Naruto knew what it was like to be bullied about something you have no control over, they became good friends. Naruto would never insult Chōji about his weight whereas Chōji is happy to have someone who doesn't insults him. The Akimichi only shares his food with people whom he trusts and Naruto falls under that category.

Moving his sight away from Chōji, he saw a kid that creep him out even more so than the Aburame. The person could easily be mistaken as his rival's twin at first glance. He had short, straight, black hair with dark eyes which contrast his pale skin. He wore a short gray and black jacket with red straps and black pants as well as black gloves and sandals. In his gray backpack held his art book which he is usually seem drawing in. The guy's name was Sai or something. Upon seeing Naruto, said person smile a smile which Naruto could obviously tell was fake. Naruto returned it halfheartedly before inwardly shuddering. The guy was a creep.

Sitting in the middle of the room and brooding, like always, was his rival, Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke had onyx-black eyes and hair with a hint of blue in it. His hair chin-length long and spiky in the back, sort of like a duck's butt. He wore a navy blue, short-sleeved shirt with high collar with the Uchiha crest in the back and white arm warmers. He also had white shorts, white leg warmers with blue edges, and a pair of blue sandals. Feeling that someone who wasn't a fangirl was looking at him, he turned around to see the person. Upon seeing Naruto, he narrows his eyes to observe him for a moment before grunting and returning back to his brooding. Naruto stood there was a sweat drop on his head. Some things will never change.

* * *

**Earlier, at the Hokage's Office...**

The assembled Jōnin as well as a few ANBU stood in front of the Hokage observing the scene in his crystal ball. In only a few moments, the Jōnin will each be taking a team composed of three graduates under their wings and testing them to see whether or not they will make it into becoming actual Genin. In the room were some of the village's finest shinobi that Konoha had ever produced. The Hokage smiled. It seems just like yesterday the people before him were there in the classroom themselves and he was taking a team under his own wings. Now, he has the chance to watch as his subordinates followed in his footsteps. It seems time had moved by so quickly and the cycle had already come around in a full circle. The feeling was nostalgic.

Standing in front of him toward the left was his son, Asuma Sarutobi. Asuma was a tall man with brown eyes, short, black spiky hair, and bread. He wore the standard Konoha uniform which included a light-blue sash on his waist with the kanji for fire as a symbol of him being a part of the Twelves Guardian Shinobi, the Fire Daimyo's elite bodyguards. While they did had some falling out in the pass, Asuma has changed ever since he returned from his services in the Guardians. The Hokage couldn't be more proud of his son for realizing who the "king" really was.

Next to him was Kurenai Yuhi, Konoha's most skilled Genjutsu specialist as well as one of the infamous Ice Queens. She was fair-skinned with a slender build. She had untamed long, black hair reaching upper back and red eyes with rings around the pupil. She wore a red mesh armor blouse underneath bandages that resembles design similar to rose thorns on top. The Sandaime suspects some chemistry going on between her and his son but chose to keep quiet about it. After all, what's the point of teasing someone if you don't have any ammo to use?

Standing next to Kurenai was perhaps the village's most renowned shinobi, Kakashi Hatake, ex-ANBU Captain and known throughout the Five Great Nations as the "Copy Cat Ninja." He wore the standard Konoha uniform consisting of a green flak jacket, dark blue long-sleeved shirt and pants as well as matching fingerless gloves with metal plates on them. His hitai-ate covers over his left eye which contain an implanted Sharingan he received from a friend during the Third Great Shinobi War. His visible eye was dark-colored and had a lazy expression written all over it. He had spiky with gravity-defying silver hair as well as a mask that covers the bottom half of his face.

As they watched the students chatting among themselves, they occasionally threw in their two cents.

"Lots of civilian kids in the mix this year," observed a Jōnin with a scar on the left side of his face.

"Sure is," responded a Jōnin with a senbon in his mouth.

"So, who do you think you're getting Genma?"

"Not sure Raidou. I sure hope it's not a bunch of brats," came from the person known as Genma.

Raidou chuckled. "We can all hope."

As the door in the classroom slammed open, the assembled shinobi saw what appears to be a blond kid with a sack in his hand panting heavily.

"Now who do you think that is?" asked one of the shinobi with red-framed sunglasses.

"Not sure Aoba. The only person I know that had blond hair is..." And just like that the revelation came to them, causing them all, save for the Hokage and the hidden ANBU, to widen their eyes.

"Is that..?" Raidou started.

"Yup..." Genma nodded, finishing Raidou's thoughts.

"Who would have thought he'd finally gotten rid of that god-forsaking jumpsuit of his?" asked Asuma to no one in particular.

"I'll admit, the new look does suit him quiet well." stated Kakashi, throwing his two cents into the mix.

"He might have changed his looks but what about his skills? Last I heard he was the dead-last," commenting Kurenai, with a hint of sadness in her eyes at someone who she believes was ruining themselves by refusing to study.

The Hokage chuckled. "Oh I wouldn't worry about that Kurenai-san." The shinobis turned their attention toward their leader who had a smile on their face. "Naruto-kun here is much more capable then you realize. In fact, he might even surprise you with what he can do," said the Hokage, his smile never leaving his face. There was a hint of mischievous in his eyes that went unnoticed save for a few.

As they continued watching the class, particularly Naruto, they resumed the talks among themselves. As they watch Naruto interact with his classmates, they threw some offhanded comments every now and then.

"Wow. Things were about to get rough between the blond menace and the Inuzuka just now."

"Yeah. I'm kind of disappointed actually. I was hoping for a good fight," said the Jōnin in the back.

"The kid in the sunglasses is the Aburame's clan heir. Did you see the way he acknowledged Uzumaki?"

"Interesting..." muttered Kakashi.

"He seems to be good pals with the Akimichi heir as well as the Inuzuka and Nara."

One of the Jōnin chuckled. "Of course. The four of them, as well as the Inuzuka's companion, used to ditch class together," said one of the minor Jōnin, while recalling on how many times they've seen the five of them ditch class while he was on patrol.

"It seems Naruto and the Uchiha are friends as well," observed Kakashi

That caught half of the Jōnin's attention. "How so?" one of them asked.

"He grunted. As opposed to the other students, he usually leaves them alone without a word." The answer came not from Kakashi but from Genma.

Realizing how much more of an enigma the blond menace was, they observed him even more closely. That is, until the doors in the Hokage's Office swung open and in came the one smirking form of one Anko Mitarashi.

"Anko Mitarashi reporting for duty, jiji!" she saluted, her grin never leaving her face as she took in the looks of disbelief of those around her.

The Hokage smiled at Anko's antics. "Ah Anko-chan. You're just in time. We were about to announce the teams." His smile never left his face as the Jōnin and ANBU stared at the duo with wide eyes.

"Anko is going to be-" stated Kurenai.

"Yup!" chimed Anko. She then walked over to Kurenai and threw her arm around her. "Come on nee-chan! We're going to be sensei together! It's going to be fun!" Anko finished with a lick of her lips that didn't do anything at all to boost Kurenai's assurance on the whole thing.

"I pity the fool that got stuck with her," whispered someone.

One of the Jōnin nodded before replying. "You said it."

Anko then took a look at the crystal ball and saw Naruto. "What's with the sack?" she asked.

"No one knows," came the answer from multiple people.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

Completely oblivious of what was taking place at the Hokage's Office, Naruto continued looking for his friends. Sitting in the back by the wall was a girl with pale eyes and short, bluish-black hair. She wore a cream-colored hooded jacket with navy blue pants, blue sandals, and had her hitai-ate around her neck. Feeling that someone was watching her, she turned and saw Naruto. Seeing that he had the girl's, whose name was Hinata Hyūga, attention, he smiled and threw her a wave. "Hi Hinata!" he greeted.

Hinata, realizing that Naruto was talking to her, quickly "eeped" and duck her head while twiddling with her fingers as a blush began to spread across her face. "A-a-a-ano... H-h-hi Naruto-k-kun," she managed to get out from all of her stammering. As she finished, her face turned a darker shade of red as she continued to poke her fingers together while avoiding eye contact with Naruto at all cost. _'Naruto-kun passed... And he talked to me!' _she smiled, not that anybody can see with her head down.

Naruto, not seeing the reason why she was stammering or why she hid her face and started the poking her fingers together, shrugged it off as another "weird girl moment". Seeing that he still had some time left, he looked around the room for a place to sit. Seeing that there were only three empty ones, two on either side of the duck butt and one in the middle toward the back, he chose the middle. Normally, he would had sat next to Sasuke to try and start a conversation with him but considering he still hasn't finished his book, he decided for some quiet time by sitting in the back. With his mind made up, he approaches the empty and removed to kodachi from his back to set it down next to the sack by the chair as he took out his book on basic fuinjutsu and started reading.

A few moments later, noticing how quiet the class was, he peeked up from the book to see what's the problem was. As he took his eyes off of the book, he saw all of his classmates staring at him as though he grew another head or something. The Jōnin, save for the Hokage, Anko and the ANBU, also wore similar expression. The scene before him cause a sweat drop to form. "What?" Naruto asked.

Kiba shakily raised his finger to point at Naruto. "You're reading," he said in disbelief.

Naruto blinked. "Yeah... What about it?" he asked cautiously. Shikamaru muttered a quick "troublesome" before returning to his nap.

"You're doing it voluntarily!" said Kiba dramatically.

Naruto sighed. This was going to be a long year.

* * *

Currently missing from the classroom were two girls; one Sakura Haruno who is a pink-haired kunoichi and one Ino Yamanaka who, like Naruto, is a blonde. Said duo were walking toward the academy when they suddenly ran into one another. Since they have been known in school as rivals, the insults and word play started the moment they saw each other.

"YOU CAN'T BEAT ME BILLBOARD-BROWS!"

"IN YOUR DREAMS INO-PIG!" The voices began growing louder and louder as the ground began to shake. Naruto, realizing who those voices belong to, couldn't hold in his smile.

Ino Yamanaka was a girl with green eyes and long, pale blond hair tied up in a high-ponytail. She wore a short purple vest-like blouse with a raised collar and a purple apron skirt that is cut off on the sides. She wore bandages on her stomach and legs and also a pair of white arm warmers with purple edges. Her hitai-ate was around her waist, acting as a belt. Naruto never gotten along with Ino because she was the President of the Sasuke Fanclub and the fact that she wouldn't shut up about him drove Naruto crazy. He didn't mind her bossy attitude because it only made her that much more fun to mess with.

Sakura Haruno was girl with long, bright pink hair and large emerald eyes. She wore a red qipao dress with white circular designs and dark green shorts. She was often bullied in her youth for her abnormal forehead thus she suffered from low self-esteem. Her hitai-ate was placed to hold her hair like an actual headband would. She was also someone Naruto had a crush on because of the similarities the two of them shared. For example, they both wanted someone to recognize them.

As the two of them reached the door, they both fell on the ground at the same time while trying to catch their breath. Apparently they just had a race to see who would get to class first. The moment they caught their breath, they had started on their fangirl craze again. Sasuke, having recognized those two voices as two of the most annoying people in the world, silently sighed while fruitlessly trying to stop his eyebrow from twitching.

"Ha! Looks like I win again billboard-brow," said Ino with a superior smirk on her face.

"Yeah right Ino-pig! My foot was already in the door before you enter so I win! That means I'll get to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" exclaimed Sakura, with hearts in her eyes. The moment she said that, other females, save for Hinata, began to join them thus forming a small crowd.

"What about us?" asked one of the female who arrived way before they did.

"Yeah. I was here before either of you were," said another.

"Well, I was here before all of you so that means I'll get to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" stated someone.

"In your dreams! Sasuke-kun likes me!" And with that, the females in the classroom started arguing over one another, deciding on who gets to sit next with their "precious Sasuke". Said individual had a headache growing while most of the boys in the classroom wished they could get some attention. Naruto on the other hand was trying hard to concentrate on his book as the voices began to grow louder and louder. Normally he would had greeted Sakura the moment he saw her but he took what he learned from the book on manners that he read to heart. At the end of the book was a note that stated, "...If any females were in their 'fangirl phase', back away slowly and pray to kami-sama that you don't get involved. Otherwise..." and left the note unfinished for interpretations.

Naruto inwardly shivers as he imagine what could have happened if he had gotten involved. _'Worst case scenario is I end up kissing someone and then end up getting pounded into the ground because of it by a bunch of fangirls.'_

* * *

In an alternate dimension, said individual suddenly sneezed after getting beaten by said fangirls for accidentally kissing their idol.

* * *

Naruto shook off such thoughts to resume his reading. Another reason he didn't want to greet Sakura was because the fuinjutsu book mentioned something about storage seals and how much one can store which immediately caught his interest. If he were fabricate a storage seal, he would then be able to carry his stuff with him without worrying over the fact of accidentally misplacing them somehow. Plus, imagine what Naruto could pull if he had all of his pranking materials with him 24/7... _'Yup. I definitely need to learn how to make these seals!'_

As Naruto read his book, completely ignoring everything around him, three individuals was observing at him with interest. Hinata noticed how focus Naruto was in his reading and felt so proud of him for actually taking some initiative. Shikamaru, having woken up from all of the noise, observed Naruto with a calculating gaze, trying to figure the enigma out. Sai carefully watched Naruto and the book he was reading as well as his weapon before making a note to report back to his superiors about this development later on. After a few minutes of pointless arguing, Ino and Sakura sat on both sides of Sasuke while the other females, save for Hinata, had rain clouds over their heads.

At around 7:10, Iruka entered the classroom carrying a clipboard in his hand. He took a look at all of the students in front of him and smiled. It seems just like yesterday he was lecturing on the basics and now here they are, ready to become actual shinobi and kunoichi. _'If they pass the test first of course,' _he mused. _'I hope Naruto succeeds. He made have improved but the life of a shinobi is not an easy one,' _he inwardly worried before noticing Naruto engaged in a book. He smiled. _'Naruto will be just fine Iruka.'_

"Alright class," started Iruka, grabbing the attention of all individuals in the class. Shikamaru had his head up, Naruto put his book away, and Chōji, well, he's still eating. "Today marks the beginning of your careers as a shinobi of Konohagakure! Before I announce the team, I just have a few words to say." The students began mumbling among themselves. "You've all grown up. You're no longer a kid who needs to be protected. You're now Genin who carries on the Will of Fire within. As your sensei, I am extremely proud of each and every single one of you." A few students broke out crying. "It's a long and treacherous road ahead but I believe in you. Go out there and make me proud!"

"HAI, IRUKA-SENSEI!" they all chorused.

Iruka nodded, his proud smile never leaving his face. "I will now begin giving out your teams. Please keep quiet until I'm done."

* * *

**At the Hokage's Office...**

"You can't be serious, Hokage-sama." Kurenai looks at the Hokage in disbelief.

"I assure you that I am quite serious about this Kurenai-san," he replied while blowing a few puffs of smoke out from his pipe.

"Are you sure this is wise, Hokage-sama? Pairing the two of them up?" asked Kakashi.

Anko pouted. "I thought you'd had more faith in my Kakashi. Looks at it this way." Kakashi turns toward her. "You now have the Uchiha all to yourself. Just like the Council wanted."

Kakashi sighed. "That's not the point Anko."

Anko, dropping all goofiness, had a serious expression on her face. "Listen Kakashi. I know how you feel about the kid but he's my responsibility now. If it's the seal you're worried about then don't be. The Hokage and I talked about it and we agreed it was for the best." Kakashi lifted his head up. "Look, you get to focus all of your attention on the Uchiha heir while I watched after the student you wanted. Since it's just me and him, I can properly train him." Anko then chuckled. "Besides, I met him last week and he survived four days with me as his temporary sensei. The kid got potential and I'm going to bring it all out."

By the time Anko had finished with her speech, everyone, save for the Hokage, looked at her in disbelief. _'He survived four days... With her?'_ The thought played through their head on repeat like a broken record.

Kakashi took a breath and released. "Alright Anko. He's all yours." He gave Anko one of his famous eye smile.

Seeing the tension as finally broken, Anko returned back to her goofy self. "Thanks Kakashi." She said, before an idea popped into her head causing her to grin her signature grin which promised pain. "You know..." she started, "If you want, I could come by and help your team by showing them a few pointers." Her wicked grin never leaving her face as she asked all of the soon-to-be Jōnin-sensei.

"NO!" they chorused.

Anko pouted. "Oh you guys are no fun." They all sweat-dropped. Her definition of fun and theirs were different on so many levels. "If you would excuse me, I have to go greet my team." Her grin never leaving her face as she performed a Body Flicker Technique to exit the office. Unbeknownst to them, the seal that Anko and the Hokage talked about weren't anything that was known by anyone save for the Yondaime and his wife...

* * *

"... Team 7 will be Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno," Sakura cheered and pumped her fists into the air before giving Ino the victory sign. "And Sai. Your Jōnin will be Kakashi Hatake."

_'Great... I got the annoying pink-haired banshee as my teammate.' _Sasuke inwardly sighed. _'I hope the Jōnin is strong or else I would had wasted my time for nothing.'_ And then he returned back to his brooding.

_**"Cha! Love always prevail!" **_exclaimed Inner Sakura while Sakura was smiling like a maniac.

_'I will report back to Danzo and tell him of my mission as well as the Kyūbi's development,' _thought Sai.

"Team 8 will be Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyūga, and Shino Aburame. Your Jōnin will be Kurenai Yuhi."

Kiba got excited and jumped on the desk while Shino just raised his glasses. Hinata was a little depressed at not being with Naruto but was happy that she had Kurenai. She had met her before and saw her as a sort of big-sister figure.

"Team 9 is still in circulation so we'll move on. Team 10 will be Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka," Ino groaned loudly while Shikamaru smirked. "And Chōji Akimichi. Your Jōnin will be Asuma Sarutobi." Ino banged her head against the desk while Sakura tried her best to hold in the giggles.

_'At least I got Chōji/Shikamaru.'_ Said people exchanged glances before smiling.

_'Ughhhh I got the class's laziest slacker and food boy too. Why me?!' _She began to inwardly wipe anime tears.

"And lastly Team 11-"

The moment Iruka said Team 11, someone threw two kunai with a smoke bomb through the window which held a banner that said "The Fabulous and Sexy Anko Mitarashi has Arrived!" As the smoke began to disperse, there in the middle stood the form of said person with her mischievous grin in place with her hands on her hips. The guys, having noticed how her coat and fishnet barely covered her assets, had a small trickle of blood coming out of their nose save for Naruto who grew accustomed to her tricks. Even Sasuke had a tinge of pink on his cheeks as he tries to advert his gaze. The females in the classroom stared at Anko in disgust and wonder. Disgusted that she would wear something that revealing and wondered at what was her secret was.

"Alright team! Front and center!" she commanded with one of her arm pumped into the air. Taking a while to realized that nobody moved, she sweat-dropped.

"Excuse me, Mitarashi-san, but I haven't announced your team yet," said Iruka while trying to keep his eyes from wondering.

Anko gave a sheepish smile while scratching the back of her head, much like a certain blond, causing everyone in the classroom and the Jōnin watching from the office to blink at the resemblance. "Guess I need to work on the timing huh?" The Jōnin all face-faulted while the students and Iruka stared at her in disbelief. "But since I'm already here, I'll announce my team and you can continue on, mkay?" asked Anko with an evil smile meaning she wouldn't take no for an answer.

Iruka, noticing the evil smile she had, quickly agreed. "Uh sure. Go right ahead," and he stepped away from said woman.

"Perfect." Her smile turned into an evil grin. "Team 11, under control of me, Anko Mitarashi..."

During all of this, Naruto was silently praying to kami-sama that what he was fearing wouldn't come true. _'Please kami-sama I beg of you! I'll do anything you ask! I'll even give up ramen! Just please please please please PLEASE don't put me on the same team as that psycho lady!' _he inwardly prayed/begged.

"... Will be you," she dramatically pointed toward the back, causing everyone to turn around to look at the victim/lucky bastard that had her as the Jōnin. "Gaki." She finished with a smirk causing everyone's eyes to bug out and Naruto to bang his head again the desk.

_'I am so screwed.' _He inwardly cried anime tears. As he lifted his head, he saw Anko looking at him with the same grin she had on the first time they met. Sighing, "So I guess I'm on your team huh you psycho lady?" The class and Iruka stared at him for his name for her.

"Yup!" Anko chimed. "It's just you and me now gaki. I recalled you saying something about not surviving under my full-time tutelage." Naruto gulped, causing Anko to smirk. _'He's so easy to mess with.'_

Naruto, realizing that his next words could means the difference between life and death, carefully answered. "W-well I d-did say s-something about that but I-I don't recall my exact words." The nervousness in his voice caused Anko's smirk to widen.

"Oh really?" He nodded quickly. "Then I guess I'll just have to teach you the importance of remembering vital details if you were on a mission. Yeah... That could be our first lesson..." She mused out loud and then slowly walked toward Naruto. Naruto, being too freaked out at the moment, was sweating up a storm while looking for possible exits. Realizing he could never out run Anko, he stood his ground as she approaches. Tora, sensing the predicament her captive was in, snickered from within the sack. Everybody waited with baited breath on what she was about to do to Naruto. "But first..." She started in an ominous tone causing Naruto to sweat even more. "What's in the sack?" she asked in a happy and curious tone causing everyone, even the people in the office, to face-fault.

* * *

After recovering with their respective face-faults, the Jōnin began to regain their posture.

"Those two... They're pranksters at heart," commented Genma.

"Are you sure it's wise to put the two of them together, Hokage-sama?" asked Raidou.

"Yes. I'm quite positive and I don't want to hear any more on the matter." replied the Hokage with his pipe in his hand.

"It certainly will be interesting with those two around," observed Kakashi.

Asuma and Kurenai nodded. "It sure would."

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL ANKO?!" shouted a still sweaty Naruto.

"What?" she asked in an oh so innocent tone with her hands out to emphasize that she doesn't know anything.

"You almost gave me a freaking heart attack!"

She put finger to her chin and tilt her head in confusion, making her look like an innocent, adorable kid. "Why would I do that?"

Taking a few minutes to grumble about "purple-haired kunoichi being too damn confusing to understand", he finally composed himself. Anko, having heard the whole thing, found it amusing.

"Uh Naruto?" They duo turns toward Kiba. "How do you two know each other?"

Naruto shudders at the memory and training session whereas Anko smiled. "Oh about four days ago. Why'd you ask? Are you jealous?" teased Anko while walking seductively toward Kiba, causing his face to turn a shade of red that can impress even Hinata.

"Ugh Anko!" she turned toward Naruto. "If you keep doing that, he's gonna die from blood loss," he stated in an annoyed matter.

She pouted and crossed her arms, lifting her chest up a bit, much to the guys' hidden pleasures and Naruto's annoyance for her antics. "Fine. But seriously, what's with the sack?" she asked, finally getting back on topic.

"Well, I was taking a walk to Training Ground 43 when I heard a noise that sounded distinctly cat-like so I followed it. Upon reaching the scene, I saw her near a tree with a frightened look on her face so I decided that I just couldn't leave the thing there," Anko and Iruka nodded, signaling him to continue his story. The class had all of their attention on his story as well. "As I approached her and showed her that I meant no harm, I told her that I was taking her back to Konoha. I think she understood what I was saying because the moment I had said that, she leaped onto a branch and dashed away like a shinobi would."

"Baka! There's no such thing as a ninja cat!" shouted Sakura. Naruto looked hurt at the accusation while Sasuke remembered all of the times that he hunted down cats of various sizes for their paw prints because of his brother's challenge. Suffice to say, both Naruto and Sasuke's mood suffered with that comment.

"Actually, Sakura, there is such a thing as ninja cat," commented Iruka causing Sakura to look at him in confusion. "Akamaru is a nin-dog, therefore, if he had shinobi training, who's to say the cat that Naruto caught didn't as well?"

Sakura gave a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry Naruto," she apologized with her head down.

Naruto gave a smile in return. "It's fine. So Iruka-sensei," Iruka raised an eyebrow. "What am I supposed to do with the cat?" He held up the sack. "I mean, I know that she belongs to someone but I don't know who the person is. All I know is that she has a red ribbon in her right ear."

Anko, Iruka, and all of the Jōnin currently watching Naruto blinked. _'He couldn't have caught...'_

"Gaki... What was this cat like?" asked Anko, hoping it was true so that she could brag about it later.

"Well, she had brown fur and amber eyes with a scar running down her forehead with three lines going across it. Like I mentioned before, she had a red ribbon on her right ear. Also, she seems to be highly intelligent because the moment I told her I was taking her back to the village, she hissed and tried to escape. Not to mention she is very fast sand a very good hider." answered Naruto, unaware of how silly Iruka and all of the Jōnin looked with their mouths opened and gaping like a fish, looking at Naruto in disbelief. Anko on the other hand had a proud look on her face.

"Gaki," she started, catching Naruto's attention. "The cat you've just caught was the Fire Daimyo Wife's cat who has a habit of escaping from captivity. Her name is Tora and she's the bane of all Genins. Catching her is a D-ranked mission that all Genin have to take at one point or another and then possibly again in the future. She has escape various three-man Genin teams so considering the fact that you did it all by yourself, well, good job gaki." Anko then walked up to Naruto and ruffled his hair, much to his embarrassment.

"Thanks... So what do we do with it now?" asked Naruto, with a little bit of red left in his face.

"We'll turn it in as a mission complete of course," answered Anko before chuckling. "Not even a Genin yet and you've already completed two missions." A few Jōnin, who didn't know of the incident a week ago, and all of his classmates stared at Naruto, wondering what the other mission was.

Naruto, upon hearing Anko talking about the incident, looked at her with wide eyes. "How do you know about-" Anko raised an eyebrow. Naruto, recalling where she works at when she told him about it last week, blinked, before scratching his head. "Oh right. Hehe sorry."

"I still don't see what the big deal is." Everyone in the class turned toward the voice. "I mean, all he did was catch a cat. How hard could it be?" asked Ino with her eyes closed and arms crossed and shrugging at the last part.

"Very hard Ino." Ino turned and saw Kiba and Akamaru looking at her with angry expressions. "Since that cat and Akamaru had shinobi training, I can tell that capturing it wasn't easy. If you don't believe me then you try to catch Akamaru while he's going at full speed and then tell me how easy it is," challenged Kiba.

"Arf!" agreed the white puppy. Ino huffed and turned away, still not believing that catching animals was hard. The Konoha 9, save for Sai, Sakura, and Ino, saw how much stronger Naruto had become if he was able to catch a ninja animal and made a vow to become stronger so they wouldn't fall behind the supposed "dead-last".

"Thanks Kiba, Akamaru." Naruto thanked with a warm smile on his face for recognizing the duo as true friends for sticking up for him.

"No problem Naruto. If you really want to test your skills, Akamaru here told me he wouldn't mind playing a game of tag with you," Kiba smirked/challenged, showing his canine teeth.

"Arf!"

Naruto grinned. "Will do!"

"Alright! Enough with this. Come on. Let head to the Administration Office already so we can begin our team meeting."

"Team meeting?" asked Naruto before he blinked. "But, I'm the only one on the team beside you."

"Don't question me gaki! Now, come on!" And with that, she grabbed Naruto and all of his stuff before jumping out of the window toward the Administration Office.

"BUT I HAVEN'T HAD LUNCH YET!" he screamed in protest.

"TOO BAD!" she shouted back.

Everyone stared at the duo as they leaped out of the window and wondered what their own teams will be like.

* * *

**10 minutes later...**

After carrying Naruto and his stuff to the Administration Office where Naruto gave a verbal report on how he caught Tora and receive paid for it, Anko then carried him to Training Ground 11 which was located on the Western Sector of Konoha. The area had a large, wide clearing in the middle and trees surrounded it from all sides. It was the perfect place to train for open combat as there was no place to hide if one were to stand in the middle since the closest cover was at least 15 seconds away.

As Anko arrived on the ground, she threw Naruto. With a thud, Naruto hit the ground and laid face-first in Mother Nature. Getting up and shaking off the dirt, he turns around to glare at the person who threw him. "What the hell was that for Anko?"

"Nuh huh huh." She wagged her finger in front of his face. "It's Anko-sensei to you. Or Anko-chan. Whichever works best for you, though I prefer the latter since then former makes me sound old."

Naruto spitted out some dirt. "Fine. What the hell was that for _Anko-chan_?" he asked with an irritated expression.

Anko smirked, while inwardly happy that he chose the latter since she hated the former but regulations were regulations after all. "That, gaki, was for letting your guard down around me. Number one rule of being a shinobi: never let down your guard no matter what," she answered. Anko knew that Naruto showed potential and had improved during the four days they've trained together but she still knew that he had a lot of work to do. After all, with the report given to her by the Hokage himself, she knew that Naruto lacked some of the basics due to his education being sabotaged, not to mention he shared a similar burden like she does. With that in mind, Anko felt it was her duty to help Naruto become the best he could be. There was another reason for it also...

Naruto groaned, snapping Anko out of her musings. "Ok fine. I won't do it again. Happy?"

Shaking off her thoughts, she smirked. "Maybe. But in case you'll forget, every now and then I'll perform sneak attacks on you where you'd least expected it in order to keep you in shape. Am I understood?" her menacing smirk and tone did nothing to ease Naruto's worries so he found himself nodding his head like a bopping head. "Good!" she chimed, her mood turning an almost complete 180. "Now, for your test-"

"Wait, test? I thought I had already passed. There's a test?" asked Naruto, confused and frustrated at said test since he was unprepared for it.

"Of course gaki. Every Jōnin is required to test their team to determine whether or not they have what it takes to become actual Genin. The tests back at the academy were just to see who had the potentials. Every Jōnin's test is different since they all have special preferences on what a Genin actually is so, therefore, even if you had study, you wouldn't know what kind of test you'll be taking," explained Anko.

Naruto felt like banging his head against the trees. He had failed his graduation exams three times and only passed the fourth time due to Iruka seeing him perform the Shadow Clone Technique and now his sensei was telling him it was all to weed out the weak. Seeing that there was no other way and hoping that the test was going to be easy, he sighed. "Alright. What kind of test are we talking about here?"

Anko gave a sinister smirk as she began to reach into her pouch. "Your test will be to survive three hours while being hunted down by me." Naruto's eyes bugged out. "I'll give you a 10 second heads start so I suggest you better get running, gaki, because your test starts now," she finished with her smirk never leaving her face.

"Shit!" Naruto panicked and cursed himself for wasting two precious seconds before dashing away from the psycho lady.

"3...2...1. The hunt is on. This is going to be fun." She licked her lips as she could feel the excitement in the air. The evil gleam in her eyes showed how much she was about to enjoy this little game.

Inside Naruto's mindscape, the Kyūbi, having woken up a long time ago but didn't want to tell his container so he'll finally have some peacetime, grinned as he enjoyed the show unfolding before him. **'Serves you right brat,'** he inwardly mused.

* * *

**With Team 8...**

"A-ano.. K-Kurenai-sensei?"

"What is it Hinata?"

"A-ano... W-why are we in a r-restaurant?"

Kurenai looked at Hinata and her two teammates before smiling. "We're here because I wanted us to break the ice between us and get as comfortable as we could. They say that a social place is a good place to get to know one another so I decided to bring us to this restaurant so we can all get acquainted with each other," she answered. Hinata and Shino, having understood the logic in the choice, nodded, whereas Kiba was too engrossed in the menu to care. The restaurant that Team 8 is in was simple restaurant holding at least 50 people. The lights were a little dim but that was only to keep wondering eyes away. They were stationed near the wall, away from the main crowd. Hinata and Kurenai sat on one side and shared the sofa seat whereas the boys were on the other side sharing their respective seat together as well.

As the waiter left to take their order, Kurenai decided to get things started.

"So Kiba. Tell us about yourself."

Kiba looked at Kurenai before looking at his teammates before returning to his sensei and shrugging. "Alright. Well I-"

CRASH!

"I think it came from outside," said one of the customers.

"Let take a look. Be careful team." As Team 8 left the premises to observe the source of the crash, they came upon an unusual sight. In middle of the cloud of dust lay Naruto and Anko, with their kunai drawn, engaged in a stalemate. Both of them were trying to overpower the other but it was clear who was slowly gaining the upper ground as Naruto began to skid back. Naruto silently cursed his physical strength while quickly doing a Substitution Technique with a nearby clone he had hidden. As the clone was pushed back and slammed into the wall, it popped into smoke.

Anko, realizing she had been tricked, yelled. "Damn it gaki! You and your clones! I'll find them all and pop the living hell out of them if it's the last thing I'll do!" she vowed before jumping away and resuming her hunt, completely ignoring Team 8's flabbergast faces.

"A-ano... W-was that N-Naruto-kun?" She placed her right hand over her mouth to hide her worried expression.

"Yes. And it seems he was engaged in combat with his sensei, Anko Mitarashi," replied Shino in his emotionless voice.

"You think Naruto will be alright?" asked Kiba whereas Akamaru just whimpered. As the three of them turned toward their sensei, who they haven't heard from, they found her rubbing her temples.

"A-ano... K-Kurenai-sensei?"

Kurenai opened her eyes and saw her students staring at her. Sighing, "I knew having Anko-chan teach Naruto was a bad idea." She shook her head and turned around to head back into the restaurant. The trio exchanged looks before they followed in suit.

* * *

**With Team 10...**

Said team was currently on top on a building underneath some shades. Shikamaru, Ino, and Chōji were sitting together on a bench while their Jōnin, Asuma Sarutobi, were standing in front of them giving off introductions. As he exhaled from the cigarette he was smoking from, the smoke engulfed the trio, causing all of them to cough and hold their nose.

"Sorry about that," he apologized, though not really meaning it. "My name is Asuma Sarutobi and from this moment on, I'll be your Jōnin-sensei. I'll be strict and I won't hold back so prepare yourself for what I'm about to teach you." The trio had tears in their eyes which Asuma thought was from his speech instead of his smoke. "Don't cry just yet. All I did was give you a warning as to what is to be expected." A small sweat drop form on his head.

"It's not that." The voice came from Shikamaru who was still holding his nose. "It's the smoke! It's stinging our eyes!"

Asuma had a sheepish look on his face when he heard the reason they were crying. "Well, alright. Before we beg- GET DOWN!" As the team took cover, several objects whizzed overhead before embedding themselves in a row across the wall. Looking at the direction of where the projectiles came from, the four saw Anko and Naruto in combat.

"What the hell..." muttered Ino.

"Tsk. Troublesome." Shikamaru shook his head.

Naruto was wielding his kodachi and parrying Anko's kunai strikes as he began to slowly back away from her relentless assaults. Seeing an opening, Naruto tried to stab Anko only to have her sidestep the incoming sword thus making Naruto lose his balance. Taking advantage of his lack in kenjutsu, she quickly delivers a blow to his stomach with her knee before grabbing his collar with her left hand and throwing a hard right jab to the face. As Naruto flew backward, he dispersed into smoke, proving he was a clone.

Anko was annoyed for having to fall for the same trick yet again. "DAMN IT GAKI! I'M GETTING REAL SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR CLONES!" And with that, she took off to continue her search for the blond menace.

As she left, the trio let out a sigh of relief. "Man I swear... Those two are a real nut job," comment Ino.

"Yeah *munch* but you have to admit *munch* they put on a good show," said Chōji, who was eating his bag of chips.

Asuma sighed and then facepalmed. _'Well, we did say things were going to get interesting with those two teamed up. I never would have imagined that they would nearly kill my team during our first team meeting.'_

During all of this, Shikamaru was busy analyzing what he had just saw from the belief encounter. _'Naruto was able to perform a Jōnin-ranked jutsu and was able to use that sword of his pretty well considering I've never seen it with him during our time at the Academy. He was able to outsmart his Jōnin-sensei by making her believe she was fighting him while in actuality she was fighting a clone. Or maybe Naruto performed a quick substitution at the last moment.' _He narrows his eyes. _'Just who or what are you Naruto? What's your secret? There's no way that a newly minted Genin could perform two missions by themselves and outsmart Jōnin-level shinobi.'_

* * *

**With Team 7...**

Whereas the other teams left several hours ago, Sasuke, Sakura, and Sai had to wait three hours for their sensei to arrive, making them to last to leave the classroom. By the time their sensei appeared, he told them he didn't like any one of them and to follow him to the top of the building. As they reached the top, Kakashi was leaning against the railings with a bored expression on his face while his students sat the stairs observing him.

"Alright, why don't start by introducing ourselves." Kakashi still had the boned tone in his voice and the bored look on his face.

"Introduce ourselves?" She tilt her head in confusion. "Well, what are we supposed to say?" asked Sakura.

"Your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the futures. Things like that," replied Kakashi, still not really caring since he had observed each and every single one of them before and already knows what those things are.

"Why don't you go first, sensei, so we'll know how it's done?" Sakura suggested.

He pointed at himself. "Me?" and then shrugged. "Aright. My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes and dislikes-"

CRASH! A cloud of dust suddenly appeared between Kakashi and his students as he was about to introduce himself. Although inwardly, he was glad for not having to. It was none of his students' business to know about him and frankly, he just didn't feel like talking. As the dust was beginning to settle, the trio were stunned while Kakashi still had a bored expression on his face as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

Within the dust lay the forms of Anko and Naruto with Anko on top, pinning him toward the ground. Anko had pretty much pinned the lower half of Naruto's body as well as his right hand with her left arm and held a kunai in her right hand just inches away from his face. Naruto had his left arm up to block and prevent Anko from trying to stab him. Although, if he was honest with himself, he knew he didn't have much strength left and would probably give soon.

"Try and get out of this one gaki!" Anko smirked. Finally after three hours, she finally managed to catch her vict- err student.

"Just watch me psycho snake lady!" Naruto countered. Anko resorted to using snakes during the chase and it freaked the hell out of him when he saw snakes flying toward him from her sleeves. Now knowing she had the ability to use snakes, he decided to give her a new nickname.

"Ahem." Kakashi coughed, drawing their attentions.

The duo blinked and turned toward the voice only to find Kakashi standing there with an amused(?) look.

"If you don't mind, I am in the middle of a team meeting," said Kakashi. His voice had a hint of amusement in it.

The duo looked at each other, blinked, and turned toward Kakashi before answering. "We don't," they replied in unison.

Kakashi sighed. "Well, since you won't leave, why don't you join us? We were just about to introduce ourselves," he suggested. While he did know something about all of them, he still wanted to hear what Naruto had to say since, well...

The duo looked at each other, blinked, shrugged, before turning back and replying in unison once again. "Sure." With the temporary truce, Anko finally released Naruto and helped him up. Said student found it hard to stand with wobbly legs since his energy was all spend running for three hours straight so Anko helped sat him down on the stairs while she sat next to him.

Meanwhile, Kakashi's team was observing the scene in found of them with opened mouths. "You know," started Kakashi, drawing his students' attention. "If you leave your mouth open for so long, you'll draw in flies." With the thoughts of flies entering their mouths, they quickly closed them. "As I was saying, before we were interrupted," they looked at the duo. Said duo had a sheepish smile and a hand behind their head causing another round of blinking at the resemblance. "Why don't we start by introducing ourselves? Since we now have guests," he turned toward them. "Why don't you start us off, Naruto and Anko?"

"Alright!" he beamed, happy to do something beside run for dear life. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup, the ramen at Ichiraku's and the owners, Anko-chan," Their eyes widen when he added the _-chan_ part to Anko's name but when they looked at her, she had an innocent expression and just shrugged her shoulders. "Iruka-sensei, and the jiji." Kakashi inwardly smiled at Naruto's nickname for the Hokage.

"My dislikes are the three minutes wait for the instant ramen and people who can't tell the difference between a kunai and a sealed one." Sasuke and Sakura looked at him in confusion while Kakashi, Anko, and Sai's eyes widen at this but then returned to normal, deciding to file it away for later.

"My hobbies involves training and tasting different kind of ramen. My dream is for people to acknowledge me for who I am and to become the greatest Hokage in history!" Kakashi smiled. _'Like father like son I suppose.'_

"Oh and to pass the stinking test Anko-chan set up for me," he glared at Anko where she, in response, smiled. Kakashi's team had puzzled looks at to what test he was talking about so they turned toward Kakashi, who just had a neutral look on his face.

_'Maybe putting the two of them together was for the best after all,' _he inwardly mused. "Good Naruto. Alright, next is Anko." The group gave Anko their undivided attention.

"My name is Anko Mitarashi. I like dangos, sweet bean soup, and my job at the Torture &amp; Interrogation (T&amp;I) Building." She finished with a sadistic grin, causing everybody to involuntarily shiver.

"My dislike are people who mistreat others for something they have no control over and a certain snake." Everybody, save for Kakashi, looked confused at the snake part whereas Naruto wondered whether or not Anko went through the same thing he did, causing him to subconsciously place a hand over his stomach.

"My hobbies is conducting tea ceremonies and if any one of you ever judge me because of it, I. Will. Make. You. Pay." She finished with a smile that had various evil intentions making them feel uneasy and gulp involuntarily. "My goals for the future is to kill a certain snake and to make sure the gaki becomes the best he could be." She turns toward Naruto, who was looking at her. "Since he already passed my test." She smiled a genuine smile.

Naruto's eyes widen. "YEAH!" He jumped and pumped his fist in the air. When he came back down, he realizing he still couldn't stand so ended up falling on his butt. "Ow." He was going to feel that tomorrow.

"Oi!" Anko clapped her hands together. "Now that we're officially a team, we need to get some missions under our belts! Get off the ground gaki and let go to the Administration Office!" Anko ordered with much enthusiasm while enjoying the look on Naruto's face at the thought of working after a three hour survival test.

_'I swear to kami-sama that I will find the person who put me in this situation and paired me up with her and make them pay dearly,' _he inwardly plotted/vowed/swear.

* * *

The Hokage suddenly sneezed and felt as though a fate worse than death was approaching over the horizon. _'I wonder how the new teams are doing...'_

* * *

Meanwhile, in Naruto's mindscape, the Kyūbi was rolling around in laughter at his container's misery. **'She a woman after my own heart,'** he inwardly thought, before bursting out laughing and rolling again. **'A human and a bijū in a relationship? Yeah right.'**

* * *

In several alternate dimensions, several female Kyūbi suddenly sneezed while fantasying about their... mate.

* * *

Omake 1: Capturing Tora

Panting slightly from the now 30-minutes-long chase, he decided to take a quick stop to assess his situation. There was a cat. And she was outsmarting him. _'Yup... That pretty much sums everything up.' _He sighed. _'How is it that a cat is outsmarting me, the so-called Prankster King from Hell?' _And just like that, an idea popped into his head, but not before he smacked himself in the face for not thinking about it sooner. _'If I can't chase her, I can trap her. Why didn't I think of it sooner? Seriously, what's wrong with me?' _As he was belittling himself, said feline was observing him from afar, hoping he had given up the chase.

Taking some time to plot, '_Yeah... That'll work. Now, to set the trap...'_ Naruto looked around for any signs of the cat before sighing in frustration. "I've wasted too much time. They're probably starting the announcements already. Can't believe I got outsmarted by a feline," he grumbled before turning around and heading toward the village. He knew where the cat was, but he also knew that said cat was highly intelligence. If he were to have any chance of setting his plan into motion, he would have to put on his best performance or else he would have been back to square one.

Looking toward the direction of the feline, he suddenly called out for it. "I know you there! Come on out! I just want to show you something."

The cat slowly appears out of the bush and looked at Naruto with calculating eyes, searching for any tricks.

Smiling, he formed the cross sign. "Shadow Clones Technique!_" _Appearing around the cat were 20 clones of the original. "Harem Technique: Reverse!_" _With the command, the Narutos undergo several transformations, causing smoke to engulf the area. When the smoke dispersed, Tora stared at the scene in front of her with saucer-size eyes and with a bit of blood coming down from her nose.

Instead of the normal Harem Technique which consisted of females, the reverse consisted of males. Since Naruto wanted to capture Tora, he made copies of attractive male cats. The image was too much for Tora to handle and she flew backward from two blood geysers coming out of her nose.

When Naruto reported to the Fire Daimyo's wife, he took him from his role as a shinobi and hired him as Tora's caretaker. Words soon spread about the teenager who would catch any animals and thus people began hiring him for his services.

That's right people. The Naruto we all knew and loved became an animal catcher.

* * *

Omake 2: Team 11

"Perfect." Her smile turned into an evil grin. "Team 11, under control of me, Anko Mitarashi..."

During all of this, Naruto silently prayed to kami-sama that what he was fearing wouldn't come true. '_Please kami-sama I beg of you! I'll do anything you ask! I'll even give up ramen! Just please please please please PLEASE don't put me on the same team as that psycho lady!' _he inwardly prayed/begged.

"... will be you," she dramatically pointed toward the back, causing everyone to turn around to look at the victim/lucky bastard that had her as the Jōnin. "Gaki." She finished with a smirk causing everyone's eyes to bug out and Naruto to bang his head again the desk.

"SHIT!" he shouted before popping a smoke bomb and grabbing all of his stuff before escaping.

Anko gave a sadistic grin and licked her lips. "I love it when they try to run away." And then took off after him.

Several minutes later, explosions and bloodcurdling screams could be heard throughout the village as Anko finally caught Naruto.

Everybody in the classroom and in the Hokage's Office silently prayed to kami-sama for Naruto's well-being.

* * *

**Revised 4/10/2015 - Minor changes in details and spelling. I hate homonyms.**

**Revised 4/12/2015 - Use of special characters. Added ' ' around thoughts and underlined techniques. Not yet BETA by SRB.**

**Revised 4/20/2015 - Ryos to ryō and other special characters. Not yet BETA.**

**Revised 6/13/2015 - Spelling, grammar, and added arc. **

**Revised 1/1/2016 – The usual. Changed kit to brat.**

**Name: Naruto Uzumaki**

**Age: 12**

**Birthday: October 10th**

**Rank: D-**

**Titles: Genin, Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead, Prankster King from Hell, Jinchuriki, Demon Child, Blond Menace, Boss, Gaki, Brat**

**Affiliation: Konohagakure**

**Taijutsu: E+**

**Ninjutsu: D-**

**Genjutsu: E**

**Kenjutsu: D**

**Other Skills: D+**

**Money: 10,000 ryō***

*** signifies changes. The titles will be there until people stop calling him that, which could take awhile.**

**That certainly took forever to finish. April showers were here with some thunderstorms and strong winds so couldn't spend writing this chapter unless I wanted to restart from scratch is the power was turned off. Over 14,000 words! My hands hurt from typing ._. And no changes to Naruto's stats except money since he was just killing time and there wasn't significant improvements yet.**

**The top half of the chapter, I didn't even know where I was going with it. That was the hardest part for me to write. Naruto was nervous and he still had time until he had to be at the academy so what was he suppose to do?**

**I added Tora into the story because I couldn't name three animals that woke up early in the morning.**

**Naruto and the Konoha's 9 interaction and relations were changed a bit because Naruto changed and this is my story :P I think I changed Kiba a bit also but it seems to work out at the end so eh.**

**I occasionally had to re-watch a few episode to remember some background story and how the first team meeting went. The Team 8 scene was something I recalled from a story I've read sometime ago or was from the canon. Not sure.**

**The choices for Naruto's test were: land a hit on Anko by the end of the week, survive in the Forest of Death for three days, have some sort of one-on-one combat, or no test at all and start on missions.**

**I originally wanted to end the chapter when Anko tells Naruto about his test but decided not to since I wanted them to interrupt the other teams.**

**Writing Anko and Naruto's fight across the village and interrupting team meetings was my favorite since I can imagine the hilarity of it actually happening in other stories or in the canon.**

**Naruto only knows 5 jutsu at this point. The Omake does not count!**

**Poll is up! So far, only three people voted ._. unless you actually care about the pairings then leave it alone I guess. I got plans for the characters. It would be interesting. If you want, I can get rid of the blind poll option. I've also added a multiple selection. You can now add twice and also have the option of not wanting a pairing at all.**

**It's Thursday so I have today and three more days until my spring break is over. Hopefully I'll get to the Wave Arc by then but we'll never know. Don't forget to review! Or if you're shy, PM me! I value your input! It helps me become a better writer. Until next time!**


	6. Missions and Bonds

**Thanks for reading and posting reviews as well as voting on the poll! You're the best readers ever! A month in and I'm already on the 6th chapter (technically 5 and a half since AN doesn't count but oh well)! As I said before, I value my readers' opinions so I'll response to what you have to said via PM if it's suggestions on what need to be change or cleared up. But since there are probably people out there who wouldn't believe me, I'll just write a version of what I sent in the PM here.**

**LordGhostStrikers: Hinata was a choice in the poll because she was a female and if I hadn't put her there, people would have left reviews or PM me about the pairing anyways. Honestly, I think the pairing with Hinata is a little overdone also but I want to make a story where both my readers and I can enjoy. I'm fairly easy going so I honestly don't mind.**

**seagate: I know Naruto is weak at the moment and not much of an improvement from the canon but I don't want him to get too strong in such a small amount of time. I don't want him to be god-like and always winning because that'll be boring to write. After all, you learn from trial and error. Right now, if he fought with Kiba like he did in the canon, Naruto's win would be more believable which is what I'm trying to get at. I mean, standing up after being knocked down by someone superior can only get you so far. You'll need skills to win. Also, the story that I mentioned in Author's Notes, some of them had Naruto training for a longer period of time. Realistic progress might make it disappointing but at least it's entertaining and believable.**

**SomeRandomBagel: Part I is just about character development with a bit of flirting every now and then to mess with the readers and keep them guessing on the pairing :P *Evil laugh* Part II is the whole pairing thing will be announced bit but you make a good point. I honestly don't know if I should make a pairing with Naruto or not. Maybe I'll use your idea. Don't know. Only time will tell.**

**luqie10: Naruto changed his outfit because the Hokage and Iruka wanted him to since his jumpsuit was awful hence the use of "orange monstrosity". But since Naruto loves the color orange, they had to make a compromise. Beside, he looks better without the jumpsuit.**

* * *

**Development Arc: 5 of 6.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the stories mentioned in Author's Notes.**

* * *

Naruto groans as the sun shines into his face. Realizing it was morning already but not feeling like getting out of bed, he turns away and covers his face with a pillow. Five minutes later, after noticing how he wasn't able to go back to sleep, he lifted his pillow a peak to glance at the clock.

9:35 am.

He groaned once more. He had gotten home at 11 pm last night and had passed out the moment his head landed on the pillow. He was busy all day yesterday completing missions by himself because:

A) It was a two-man team and Anko said Jōnin-sensei were only supposed to supervise during D-ranked missions. She told him this while drinking sweet bean soup...

B) Anko prohibited him from using clones since D-ranked missions were about building teamwork. When he brought it up to her that it was a two-man squad, she shrugged and told Naruto to "think of it as physical training while you pull out the weeds".

C) Anko had meant it when she said she wanted her team, meaning Naruto, to get some missions under their belt.

Saying Naruto was tired was a major understatement. Right after the three hours long survival test, Anko immediately dragged him into the Administration Office and grabbed as many D-ranked mission scrolls as she could before handing them over to him. It took Naruto nearly 10 hours to finish pulling out the weeds, walking the dogs, painting a fence, and various other chores that their clients could have done themselves!

Naruto groaned again as he relived the memories of all of the chores he had to do. Sure the money was good, but he had to do it by himself with no clones! It was completely insane and long, not to mention extremely boring. He literally had to watch paint dry because the client wanted two layers of paint on the fence and claimed it can only be achieved once the first layer finally dries. Naruto fell asleep while waiting for said paint causing Anko to throw a senbon at his butt thus rudely waking him up.

As Naruto finish doing a quick reminiscing on yesterday's activities, he halfheartedly got out of bed and made his way toward the bathroom. Since he didn't take a shower when he got home last night, he was still covered in dirt, sweat, and a few more of Mother Nature's creations. As a result, he ended up spending 40 minutes in the bathroom since some of Mother Nature hardened and made it difficult to get off. As he opens the door to the bathroom to exit, steams flowed out of the room behind him, showing how hot the shower was. Feeling much better and refreshed than ever before, he enters the kitchen with a smile and made two clones to help prepare a big breakfast since he didn't get a chance to eat dinner last night as well. He then told one of them to look up something he had noticed yesterday.

After wolfing down a big and nutritious breakfast, he went over to his closet to change since he was still in his robes. Looking at himself in the mirror as he made sure he was as presentable as he could, he then grabbed the items he needed and strapped on his kodachi to his back before heading out of his apartment to rendezvous with Anko at the Administration Office once more. As much as he hated those D-ranked missions, he still needed a source of income and this was the only thing he knew of so far that could give him the money he so deeply wished for.

* * *

**Meanwhile, at Hokage's Office...**

Currently standing inside the Sandaime's office are the Jōnin who were assigned to be the sensei to a group of graduates yesterday. Each Jōnin were assembled to give their report on whether or not their team had passed.

"Alright settle down." The voice of their leader caused all commotions to stop. "Even though we are one person short," the collective Jōnin rolled their eyes and some exchanged amused glances since they already know who's absent. "I would like us to begin our meeting. Starting with Team 1, go." His secretary clicked her pen and hovered it above the clipboard.

"Team 1 fail."

The Hokage nodded. "Next."

"Team 2 fail," reported Aoba.

"Team 3 fail." Genma reports.

"Team 4 fail."

"Team 5 is in circulation. Next."

"Team 6 fail." Raidou reported with a head-shake.

"Since Kakashi isn't here, we'll come back to it later."

"Team 8 pass." Kurenai wore a proud smile when she announced her team.

"Team 9 is in circulation so we'll move on."

"Team 10 pass." Asuma had a bored expression but if one were to look closely, the corner of his lips were twisted upward.

"Team 11 pass. And we've already started on missions," said Anko with a wide smile. Sensing that people were staring at her, she turns to look at her colleague with a puzzled expression. "What?"

"Anko-chan... You're supposed to report whether or not your team pass first before assigning them on mission," said an exasperated Kurenai.

Anko chuckled nervously and scratched her head. "Hehe, oops." Everyone shook their head, save for the Hokage who had an amused/proud smile.

"It's fine Anko-chan. Now if they're anything you'd like to discuss, now would be-" POOF! A pop smoke appeared in the room and with it came the form of one late-as-usual Kakashi.

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted, still reading his book.

"Kakashi, you're late." The Hokage pointed out although there were no real malice to it. "Since you're here, give us Team 7's report."

Kakashi snapped his book and put it away before stepping forward. "Team 7..." He paused for dramatic affect. The others rolled their eyes since they had assumed his team would fail like usual. "Passed." Kakashi eye smiled as the other Jōnin looked at him in disbelief.

"Did he just say-" started Aoba.

"Yes. He did," confirmed Raidou.

"Who would have thought..." muttered Genma with a head-shake.

"Alright alright settle down. Like I was saying before, if there's anything you would like to discuss, now would be a good time to say it." No one spoke up. "Then on to our next order of business. Anko," said person stood at attention. "Since you have only one student under your wing-"

"Apprentice." Anko cut in. Everyone in the room blinked at the declaration before a smile spread across the Hokage's face.

"Right. Since Naruto will be the only member on Team 11, I've decided to have both you and Naruto work alongside the other rookie teams in various joint missions as a way for him to build teamwork. Even though you can still perform missions by just the two of you, I still would like Naruto to become acquainted with others considering he's working by himself. He has to learn to work with others he wouldn't normally or would usually get in arguments with since that is a skill all Genin must eventually learn," declared the Hokage.

Anko considered the Sandaime's words before nodding in agreement. "I agree Hokage-sama. It will be beneficial for him as well as eliminating the drawbacks of him being the only person on the team."

The Hokage let a puff of smoke escape from his mouth before continuing. "Would anyone like to add anything to this topic?" Shakes of head was his only answer. "Then this meeting is adjourned. Dismiss." The Jōnin bowed and began to leave.

"Hey, Kurenai-nee-chan."

Kurenai turns toward the voice and saw Anko. "What is it Anko-chan?"

"Are you planning on doing anything with your team after this?"

Kurenai shook her head. "Not really. Why?"

"You up for a joint mission with me and the gaki in about an hour from now?" asked Anko.

Kurenai contemplated on the suggestion before nodding. "Sounds good. I'll gather my team."

"Perfect! Now if you would excuse me, I have to go greet my apprentice." Anko had a sadistic grin on how face before she left in a pop of smoke causing the remaining occupants to shake their heads at her antics and for Kurenai to wonder how this joint mission will turn out.

* * *

Hopping from roof to roof, Naruto tries to meet at the rendezvous point as quickly as he could. He was told yesterday by Anko that shinobi should be on time for appointed meetings or else...

Naruto involuntarily shivers at what the "or else" part could be before doubling his efforts to arrive there as soon as possible. As his feet touches the ground, he saw the gleam of an object out of the corner of his left eye causing him to turn to see what the object was. Realizing it was a projectile and that he had no time to dodge it, he moved his face to the left as much as he could causing the projectile to nick his right cheek, drawing some blood. As he was about to touch the wound on his face, he felt a presence behind him and suddenly froze with wide eyes.

"Well, what do have we here? It seems someone dropped their guard," said the mysterious figure with an oh so familiar voice. Naruto didn't have to turn around to know it was Anko because there was only one person he knows that would throw a kunai and nick someone on the cheek like that. However, knowing the identity of said figure behind him didn't help at all in this situation. In fact, it only made things worse because he was caught off-guard by his sensei.

"G-g-good morning, A-Anko-ch-chan," he greeted nervously. "W-what you've b-b-been u-up to?"

"Oh nothing," she replied in a carefree tone. "I was just on my way to the mission office when I decided to test my protégé on how well his reaction speed was." She leaned into his ear and whispered, "I must say, it's an improvement but not very impressive," and then started licking the blood on his cheek.

Still not being completely used to her antics, Naruto shivered as he felt her warm tongue licking his cheek. "W-w-w-well, I'm h-h-happy to r-r-report that your p-p-protégé arrived here a-ahead of t-t-time." Her molesting did nothing to ease his nervousness. A few shinobi who were passing by looked at the duo for a second before shrugging and moving on. They've gotten too accustomed to Anko's behaviors to actually care about what was going to happen to her victim.

Pausing to consider his words, she then nodded her head and released him, causing him to breathe out a breath of relief. "Alright gaki. Since you've arrived ahead of time," Naruto turned to face Anko. "We'll take it easy today. Might as well since you did a good job on those D-ranked mission yesterday." She finished with a grin while Naruto shuddered at the memories.

"Hai, Anko-chan. So what do you think we should do first?" asked Naruto, hoping to do something cool.

"Hmm." Anko began tapping his finger against her chin. "It's 11:10 right now and I'm planning on us meeting with Kurenai-nee-chan's team later for a joint mission so we got about an hour until the appointed time."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked. "A joint mission? What for?"

"Since it's just the two of us gaki, the Hokage believes it would be best if we occasionally join up with other teams on missions every now and then as a way to build teamwork and learn cooperation and all that crap." She waved her hand dismissively at the end.

"Why would I need to learn cooperation? I already get along with some of them." Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

"Because one of these days you'll be forced to team up with someone you'll won't get along with and if you let your personal feelings get the best of you, the mission will be jeopardized," she lectured in a stern voice. "Don't forget, gaki, that Konohagakure is known for its exceptional teamwork. And you, being a Konoha shinobi, must learn the values of it." As she finished, Naruto was looking at her with his mouth slightly opened.

"Wow... Really?" She nodded. "Then that means there's another reason why ojii-san wanted me to work with other teams as well," he commented.

Anko raised her eyebrows, not at the ojii-san part since the Hokage already filled her in on that, but at the other meaning. "Oh yeah? Care to enlighten me?"

"You said that Konoha is renowned for their teamwork right?" Anko nodded, curious as to where Naruto was going with this. "Well, by working together with others, ojii-san basically wanted me to learn about my classmates' strengths and weaknesses and how they work so that, if a crisis should arrive, I'm able to help them better and they, in turn, can help me better as well," replied Naruto.

Now Anko has both eyebrows raised. "That's actually a good deduction gaki. Where did you learned that from?" Anko asked in proud curiosity.

Naruto gave an embarrassed look and scratched his head. "I learned from the _Shinobi Tactics 101_ book that the jiji recommended for me. The book said that shinobi are supposed to 'look underneath the underneath' to find the true meaning of stuff that were otherwise hidden or coded." As he finished his explanation, Anko knew then and there that there was no doubt in her mind of how strong Naruto was going to be once he becomes older.

"I'm proud of you... Naruto." And she ruffled his hair, making him blush at the attention and praise he received from his sensei.

"Thanks Anko-chan." He face was still a little red even though she had removed her hand.

"Alright, enough with this sappy moment." And with that, their little moment was gone in an instant. "I'm going to teach you something while we wait. But first, give me a recap of what you know so far."

Naruto nodded and stood at attention. "I know the Transformation, Substitution, my very own Sexy and Harem as well as Shadow Clone and a variation of it called the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. I also know how to use a kodachi decently, how to set up traps, and have fairly good stealth and evade skills. I don't know how well my taijutsu is and my genjutsu skills are lacking majorly due to the fact that I can't perform nor dispel them. I have basic knowledge in fuinjutsu and nothing more. I've mastered the leaf floating chakra control exercise as well as the tree walking one. I am decent at water walking but haven't fully mastered it yet since I can't fight while standing on water for long periods of time," he reported.

Anko nodded at his assessment on his skills. _'That sounds about right. Although the Sexy and Harem Technique of his... Eh we can probably have some fun with that.'_ "Alright gaki. Since we have a lot to work on, I'll start by teaching you a jutsu that I think will help you in the long run."

Naruto perked up. "Really? What is it?" he asked excitedly.

Anko smiled. "It's called the Body Flicker Technique. What this technique does is allows the user to travel at short or long distances at high speed." Performing the ram hand seal, she disappeared in a body of smoke only to reappears with another pop on top of a building. "As you can see, a pop of smoke accompanies the technique when it is performed but there are other variations for it as well. For example, ANBU usually perform the Body Flicker with little or no smoke whereas some Jōnin use leaves instead. It's all depends on preference." Forming the ram seal again, disappeared and reappeared at her spot on the ground in a swirl of green leaves. "It's a good method of transportation but the longer the distance and the difference in elevation, the more chakra is used," she explains.

"Cool! That sounds really useful!" exclaimed Naruto with a wide smile and an excited look on his face. He then tilted his head in curiosity as an idea came to him. "But can it be used in combat, Anko-chan? I mean, disappearing and reappearing behind an enemy seems like a useful ability to have while in combat." He took up a thinking pose.

Anko nodded. "Sure it can. However, not many people have the chakra reserves to use it repeatedly. As I've mentioned before, the distance and elevation determines how much chakra will be used. If you were to say, use it to appear near an enemy a mile away, while you might be able to take him down, there's still his teammates to worry about if he's not alone. And if you managed to spend all of your energy on that one shinobi, the others can pick you off like child's play. Not to mention the tunnel vision you'll receive while traveling at high speed." Anko explained in her teacher mode which still fascinates Naruto at how she can be goofy one minute and serious the next.

Naruto nodded his head since he can see the drawbacks of the technique. "I guess with those flaws, that means no one is able to use it in combat huh?"

Anko shook her head. "Actually, there were a few shinobis who were able to utilize that technique in their arsenal." Naruto looked at her in wonder at who those people were. "You know the Uchiha are well-known for their Sharingan eyes right?" Naruto nodded. "Well there was this one Uchiha who managed to master the technique to a degree that earned him the moniker 'Shisui of the Body Flicker' since he was so adept at using it." Naruto's eyes widen. "He had the ability to mask his presence whenever he performed the jutsu as well as seemingly dodge any incoming projectiles, not to mention outpace his opponents. And then there was the Yondaime Hokage who was regarded as the fastest shinobi within the Five Great Nations."

Naruto beamed as he heard he was about to learn something from his idol. "The Yondaime used the Body Flicker in combat too?!"

Anko nodded. "Well, a more highly advanced jutsu that was similar to it anyways. As you might have learned from your reading, the Yondaime used special kunai tagged with seals on them to marks the location of a place. He was then able to teleport himself in an instant to whichever location he chooses given he had marked them beforehand, either by kunai or by touch since he also mark objects via physical contact." By now, Naruto had stars in his eyes. "The Yondaime Hokage was known as 'Konoha's Yellow Flash' and was given the flee-on-sight order by Iwagakure and Kumogakure during the Third Great Shinobi War. The technique that earned him that moniker was the Flying Thunder God since it made him appear and disappear in a like a flash of yellow light. His technique was said to be derived from the Body Flicker but was more closely associated with Summoning Technique," she explained and shook her head before taking in a breath of air. "However, we're not getting into that for now since it requires advanced knowledge in jutsu theories which I'm sure you're not even there yet."

Naruto took all of that information in and was awestruck. "So when can we start Anko-chan?!" he asked, excited for the chance of learning said technique that was similar to his idol's signature move and granted him his reputation, completely ignoring the fact they were not actually connected to each other except with the ability to move at high speed.

Anko smiled. '_He'll do anything to follow in the Yondaime's footsteps.'_ "First, since you're just starting off, form the ram seal. Once you're proficient enough with it, you can perform the technique without the seal." Naruto nodded and formed the seal. "Second," Anko looks around and pointed the top of a building. "You see that building over there?" Naruto nodded. "Try and memorize that place. It helps if you're familiar with the location of where you want to go or have an image of it in your head."

Naruto nodded. "Right! Body Flicker Technique!"

"Wait! Gaki!" but it was too late. The smoke had already engulf Naruto and he was already in motion. Two seconds later, a crash could be heard from the location of the building Anko pointed to. As she turns toward the building, she instant fell on the ground and started rolling in laughter.

There, stuck to the side of the building, was Naruto with his arms and legs spread out comically. As he slowly fell back and became unglued from the wall, there was an imprint of himself on the side of the building. The moment he hit the ground, he rolled over to cover his face with his hands since he was pretty sure he had broken something because it hurts like hell. Groaning as he removes his hands from his now red face, he pushed himself off the ground and turns to look at his sensei only to find her on the ground laughing like a maniac.

"Th-th-that w-was cl-clas-classic gaki," she said in between laughter.

Naruto grumbled something incoherent as he observes the scene in front him while nursing his still hurt face. "Are you done yet?" Anyone could tell he was annoyed by his tone.

Laughter began to turn into chuckles, snickers and finally giggles as Anko tries to regain her composure while getting up from the ground. Holding a hand over her stomach from the hilarious scene she had just witnessed, "Sorry about that gaki." Her grin widen as she replayed the scene in her head. "I just never would had imagined you running face-first into a building and then embedding yourself into it," Anko replied amidst fits of giggles. Naruto had a tick mark on his head as he could also hear the kitsune's laugh from within his head as well.

_'Can it furball!' _Naruto mentally shouted to his tenant.

_**'Make me brat,' **_the Kyūbi shot back. He could feel the grin on the kitsune's face.

Zoning out the voice inside of his head and refocusing his attention on his sensei, he found her trying her best not to smile as he could see the corner of her lips twitching upward. Naruto sighed and crossed his arms. _'Probably still thinking about the incident just now,' _he mused. "So Anko-chan," she shook her head and returned back to reality. "Should I keep practicing on that technique or are you going to teach me something else while we wait for Kurenai-san's team?" There was still a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Anko shook her head. "Just keep practicing. Now, as I was trying to say before as you completely jumped the gun and attempted it," she puts her hands on her hips and narrows her eyes at Naruto who in turn gave a sheepish look. "You'll usually crash into stuff before you begin to get the hang of traveling at high speed. Normally, beginners would try and do it on ground level first before they attempt it at various heights but I wanted to see how you would do on your first try." She grinned cheekily.

"So you basically knew I was going to run face-first into a wall." Naruto stated in a deadpan expression.

Anko shook her head once more, resulting in Naruto raising his eyebrow. "I assumed you would do something similar to that, gaki, but I had expected you to listen to what I had to say beforehand." Naruto lowered his gazed to the ground, feeling as though he was being scolded. "Paying close attention to details and not rushing into stuff is vital for a shinobi. If you were to ignore the mission's briefings or had charged head-first into an enemy without any sort of plan, you would have gotten both you and your team killed for your actions." Naruto lowered his head even further as Anko continues on with her lecture. "Take it to heart gaki. If you want to be the Hokage, if you want to be the best shinobi there is, then you'll need to use your head and not charge into situations which could endanger the lives of people around you and yourself."

Naruto slowly nodded his head. "Hai. I understand Anko-chan. I'll listen to the instructions properly and think first before I act from now on."

Anko felt like giving herself a pat on the back for getting that concept inside of Naruto's head but decided not to and just smiled. "Good. Now, since we have time to spare," Naruto lifts up his head to look at her. "I want you to make some clones and start practicing." Naruto nodded and was about to comply when Anko sudden held up her hand as an idea just came to her. "Actually gaki, make some extras and have them go around the village." Upon seeing Naruto's questioning look, she decided to elaborate. "Since the Body Flicker Technique allows you to move at high speed to a place, if you were to have your clones memorize areas of the village, not only will you be able to practice getting there, but if a crisis should arrive, you'll be able to know key locations and defend them with ease since you'll know the background," explained Anko, quite proud of herself for thinking of it and for having a student with the ability to make so many shadow clones at once.

Naruto nodded, seeing the logic in her explanation as well as how useful it can be to know key parts of the village. "Hai Anko-chan. Shadow Clones Technique!" Several pops could be heard as Naruto summoned over 50 clones to aid in his training. "Alright! I want half of you to practice the Body Flicker Technique while the other half go around the village memorizing area of interests," Naruto commanded, not at all turning around to notice Anko's worried face. With shouts of "HAI!" and a salute, the clones went off to do their job as Naruto begin stretching to resume some practicing himself.

"Naruto." He turns around and saw Anko looking at him with concern in her eyes. "You sure it was wise to make that many clones? The mental exhaustion might knock you out or worst." The worriedness in her in voice warmed his heart as he put on a reassuring smile before explaining.

"Don't worry about it Anko-chan." Still seeing the worried expression on her face, he continued. "I've learn another secret about the Shadow Clones Technique as I was catching Tora yesterday and decided to research more about it. It turns out the amount of feedback I receive depends on two factors: how long my clones have been out and what I told them to memorize." Anko pays close attention as Naruto was about to explain as she figure she could also use this later. "If I make a clone to last an hour and told him to gather information on a target and another to patrol the area, the clone patrolling the area will transfer more memory back to me as opposed to the one trailing the target since that clone only had to know information about said target whereas the other had to pay close attention to key details."

"There's also the option of choosing what I want my clones to remember when I chose to dispel. For example, if the clone was out scouting, I can have them forget how many trees and plants they saw since I'm really not interested in knowing that. I've noticed that the more I use the clones, the less mental fatigue I received so I've decided to look it up as well. It turns out that the mental exhaustion becomes easier the more I use it due to my brain becoming more accustomed to the amount of feedback I use. Of course, I'm not stupid to test this theory completely out by dispelling all of my clones at once so I'll still dismiss them in small groups. That way, I'll keep the collective exhaustion on low and still be fit for duty." As Naruto finishes, he closes his eyes and took a breath of air and exhaled. He then opens his eyes to look at Anko who had a thoughtful expression on her face. "What are you thinking about, Anko-chan?" he asked.

Focusing her eyes on Naruto, she then smiled. "Just on how strong you'll be once we get through some proper training." She then grinned her sadistic grin. "That is, if you survive." She licks her lips as fear crept up Naruto's face.

"Right..." he said, avoiding eye contact as he continues his stretches before joining his clones.

* * *

10 minutes later, Naruto was slightly panting while Anko was sitting on a nearby bench with a scroll and ink brush out. Every once in a while, Anko would look up to observe her student's progress before returning back to the scroll and writing in it. As he continues his training alongside his clones, a report came into his head from the other group of clones via mental link. Turning toward his left, he nodded at the clone beside him as he went over to the bench underneath the shadow of a tree Anko was sitting under and took up a meditative pose. Deciding it was a good time to stop and reflect on what he has learned, he began closes his eyes and gave the clones the mental order to dispel in groups. 30 minutes passes before Naruto finally opens his eyes. He turns to the left and saw Anko staring at him with a slightly worried look.

"I'm fine Anko-chan. I know how to reduce the amount of mental exhaustion I'll get so don't worry." He smiled a warm smile at her. Anko observes him closely, as if seeing whether or not he was lying before nodding and returning back to her writing. "What cha writing?" he asked in curiosity from seeing how focused his sensei was being.

"Nothing," came the simple response.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Nothing?"

"Nothing."

Naruto sighed. _'I'll never understand girls,'_ he concluded. "Can you help me with something Anko-chan?" She only response was an eyebrow raised which indicates she was paying attention. "I'm thinking about having a signature Body Flicker but I don't know what I want it to be or how to perform it. I want something cool and preferably without the use of smoke." Naruto explained his dilemma to Anko who wasn't looking at her book and was just staring ahead in contemplation.

"What, no orange?" Anko asked before her eyes widen and she quickly shuts her mouth while inwardly belittling herself for make that suggestion.

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted with a pumped fist in the air. "I want something with orange also!"

As soon as he had said this, Anko facepalmed. Sighing, "I'm pretty sure you can think of something gaki. Maybe change the color of the leaves to orange or something when you perform it." She shrugged and waved her arm dismissively before returning back to her writing. Naruto thought about it in scrutiny before nodding his head.

"How much time do we have left until Kurenai-san's team arrive Anko-chan?" Naruto asked.

Without taking her eyes off of the scroll, "About 10 minutes gaki," she answered and sticks your tongue out to show how hard she was concentrating.

"Thanks!" She waved her hand in response. Naruto then got up from the bench and walked a few feet away from Anko before summoning more clones. The clones, already knowing the order, began doing the technique while Naruto took up a thoughtful pose and observed his clones' progress and designs on the soon-to-be signature move. Every now and then, he and a few clone judges would make comments on the various designs appearing in front of them.

"Too bright." Judge 1 said. The clone that performed it hung his head before walking behind the judges to inspect his fellow clones' ideas.

"Too dark." Judge 2 said. The clone just shrugged it off before joining in with the other rejects.

"Too.. What's the word.. Fruity? Where did you even get that watermelon from?" asked Judge 3. Said clone gave a sheepish pose before joining the others in the stand. "Next!"

Appearing in front of them in a swirl of leaves was a clone who was just called on; however, this entrance was different. Instead of the usual bright orange color, this one had just the right mixture of both light and dark. In addition to the orange leaves, there were also a good ratio of black leaves which did well to accompany Naruto's outfit. The judges and spectators looked at one another before they turned toward the original who was in deep thought.

Slowly nodding, he finally spoke. "I like it. It's perfect. Not too flashy but also not too boring. It's just perfect. Good job." The clone who performed the technique had a proud look and jumped with a fist pumped out shouting "Yeah!" As the clones began to congratulate one another and give each other their opinions, Naruto suddenly cleared his throat. "Alright guys. Thank you for helping me learn the Body Flicker Technique as well as making our own signature one. I couldn't have done it without you." Naruto smiled and thanked his clones. "You're dismissed." A few clones were crying but soon composed themselves and everybody then saluted the original. "HAI!" they chorused and soon dispelled all at once. Naruto was glad he gave the order to forget everything that was useless information before they all dispelled simultaneously or else he would have felt that later on.

* * *

Kurenai made her way toward the Administration Office where she was scheduled to meet up with Anko and Naruto soon. Taking a look behind, she couldn't help but smile at the scene.

On the left was Kiba and Akamaru who was facing his teammates and trying to get a conversation started. He was the most energetic of the bunch as he seems to be almost as hyperactive as Naruto. On the far right was Shino who would every now and then throw in facts that would sometime silence Kiba or infuriates him because of his logic. He was the most stoic and always talk in a monotone voice, courtesy of being a typical Aburame who rarely shows their emotions. And in the middle of the two boys was Hinata who had a smile on her face as she watch Kiba and Shino bicker. She was the mediator of the team as well as the shyest member. She had low confident in her abilities and was not stoic as most Hyūgas were which was rare.

Kurenai would never have imagined she would get a team like this. The three of them were all clan heirs and sensors making her team ideal for recon and scouting missions. Not to mention all three of them passed their test which included trusting their team with a secret of theirs. Trust is important in all cells actually. Without trust, how can you rely on your teammates to work together with you or to help you through a tough situation? While trust may be a double-edged sword at times, it is essential for making bonds with others and knowing who you can count on in times of need. After all, if you can't trust your team while behind enemy lines, who can you trust?

Snapping out of her musings, she turns back toward the front as the rendezvous place came into view. As Team 8 came closer and closer to the building, they saw something on the sidewalk that made them stop and blinked, but of course for different reasons. Sitting on the bench underneath the shades of a tree was Anko with a look of concentration on her face as she wrote stuff down in a scroll. Above her in the tree sitting on a branch with his back against the trunk was Naruto with his eyes closed and arms behind his head. Kurenai had never seen Anko being so focused on something for once and the sight of said person focusing made her blink and had to make sure she wasn't in a genjutsu. Her three students blinked because they were not yet inform of the joint mission and was wondering why Naruto was here with his sensei seemingly taking a nap while she was busy with something.

"Naruto?" asked Kiba in clear confusion. Naruto opened one of his eyes to observe the newcomers before he opens the other eye and turns his head to greet them.

"Hi Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata, Shino, Kurenai-san!" he waved. "We were waiting for you to arrive." Four of the five names called blinked and turned to face the last one only to find out her eyes was still glued to Anko. "Is there something wrong Kurenai-san?" Naruto asked.

Said individual shook her head as if she was in a trance before looking at Naruto and answering. "Oh, nothing Naruto. I was just surprised and shocked at seeing Anko-chan so focused for once." The group then look at Anko who was still in contemplation and amidst writing. "Do you know what it is she is writing for?" she asked, hoping to find the answers at this phenomenon in front of her.

Naruto shook his head. "No, sorry. She wouldn't tell me about it either." He then turns toward Anko. "She seems really focused on it though. I was half-tempted to take a peak but I rather not play another game of death tag with her." Naruto shudders at the memory while the others looked at him with puzzled looks. "Anyways," he started. "Anko! They're here! Are we going to get our mission or what?" he asked.

Anko mumbled under her breath. "Just one second... Almost finish... And... There. Done." Anko exhaled and wiped some sweat off of her face. Looking at her work, she skim through the scroll to check for any errors before nodding to herself and rolling it up. "Here. Catch." She threw the scroll up at Naruto who caught it, wondering what it was about. "That there is a schedule of what we will be doing that I've just whipped up. It took me awhile to think of a plan that will work but in the end, that's the best I can think of." Anko answered the unasked question and stood up. Stretching, she popped a few bones just to show how stiff she was sitting there for a long time. "We'll talk about the schedule more later but right now we have to wait for Kurenai-nee-chan's team to get here and," she turns and noticed that said team was already there. Waving, "Oh hi Kurenai-nee-chan! When did you get here?" she asked excitedly. Six sweat drops were formed as they observed her antics.

_'Only Anko-chan/Naruto's sensei,' _they all thought in unison before heading toward the Administration Office for their joint mission.

* * *

Naruto groans as he stops to take a short break and wipes the sweat pouring down from his forehead. He looks up toward the sun and squinted his eyes at the brightness. The mission was to help a new family near the outskirt of the village prepare their newly brought land for farming. The miles of acres that the family brought at a good price was crowded with weed, tall grass, fallen trees, and various other hindrances that would have made this area the ideal place for agriculture. With the sun bearing down on him overhead and with no clouds above, the task at hand was made that much more exhausting. Not to mention the heat and lack of wind which in turns causes a few mirages due to the distortion.

He turns to look over the horizon and saw his classmates doing their own roles. Hinata was pulling out the weeds and every once in a while wiping the sweat running down her face. Shino was using his clan's technique to control the insects and make them increase the land's fertility as well as get rid of various trees that had fallen over. Kiba was busy cutting down the tall grass with a scythe while Akamaru was sniffing the ground in case someone hid a trap or something. Naruto then turns toward the barn and saw both sensei standing in the shades observing their students from afar.

Naruto wanted to use clones to help finish the task but he knew Anko would have told him, "You can't rely on clones all of the time and the point of these joint missions was to build teamwork." He returns his gaze to the sun in the sky and realized they have been at this for two hours and haven't make any sufficient process. Looking back at Anko, he cupped his dirty hands over his sweaty mouth and shouted, "Hey, Anko-chan!" Anko turned toward him as well as Kurenai and her students. "Can I _please _use clones to help pick up the pace? We'll be done by New Year at this rate!" he requested/complained.

Anko thought about it for a moment. She knew that the reason why Naruto didn't make any clones in the first place was because of what she had told him about teamwork and knew she would had say something about relying on them too much. She also knew that the reason why Naruto waited this long to ask her was so he could prove that he doesn't always rely on clones to speed things up and that something this massive requires more hands. She observed each of the Genin and noticed that, with the rate they're going, chances them finished by New Year were high and if she was being honest with herself, she'll admit she was getting bored waiting for them to finish.

As she came to a decision, she turns to look at Naruto. Sighing, "Alright gaki. Use your clones to speed this up." Naruto beamed while Kurenai's students just had puzzled looks on their face as to how normal clones can help whereas Kurenai just raised an eyebrow and stares at Anko. "But remember, send some to help you teammates as well. Understood?"

Naruto nodded eagerly. "HAI!" he shouted and forming the cross sign while grinning like a maniac. _'We'll be done in no time,'_ he mused. "Multiple Shadow Clones Technique!" The whole area around area was engulfed in a big pop of smoke as the spectators coughed due to having inhaled some of it. When a wind suddenly picked up and the smoke was blown away, everyone had their eyes bugging out and mouths opened and gaping like a fish. The field that once stood a single Naruto now had hundreds of solid copies of himself, all grinning at the looks on his companions' faces.

"Alright clones!" he shouted. All clones stood at attention like well-trained soldiers when they heard his voice. "I want you to form in groups of 50 and start working. I need four groups to accompany me, Kiba, Shino, and Hinata. The rest of you can pick a place and start. Understood?" A resounding "HAI!" was heard all around as each clones saluted the original and fanned out to engage in the work. Naruto nodded in satisfaction before turning toward his team and the client. "Client-san, do you have any more tools we can use?" he asked, completely ignoring the still shocked faces all around him.

"T-t-th-ey're i-in th-the b-b-ba-barn." He was still blinking to determine whether or not he was hallucinating.

"Thank you client-son." Naruto slightly bowed to the owner and headed toward the barn but then suddenly stops and turns to face his teammates. "If you guys want to finish this mission, then come help me get the tools we need and for the clones as well." Not waiting for an answer, he then turn back and continue forward. His teammates snapped out of their trace-like state and glanced at each other before following Naruto, who was then unofficially named the team captain. Kurenai also managed to snap back to reality and turns to face Anko who was still staring at the area that once held the army of Narutos.

"A-A-Anko-nee-chan?" Her voice was still filled with uncertainty and disbelief at event that had just transpired. Anko blinked several times as she too eventually came back to reality and her shocked look was slowly replaced with a smile.

"That's my little protégé."

* * *

The moment Naruto was allowed to use his clones, the two teams were able to finish at a record pace. What had taken them two hours to even clear a small fraction had taken the army of 500 clones an hour to finish. Since there weren't enough tools for all 500 of them, most of the clones had to work with their bare hands or share the tools. It wasn't until Naruto noticed how his equipment was also copied and could be used by his clones that he came up with the idea of having each clones use the kodachi to cut down the grass and other obstacles.

With the problem of the amount of tools available solved, he then focus his attention on clearing away debris. With the help of Shino and Kiba's family techniques, most of the trees and boulders were removed and the clones helped with the cleanup. Hinata surprised most of the team members with her knowledge in herbs so she had a group of clones with her making sure the others don't accidentally kill any potential medicine herbs as well as possible cash crops. As for Naruto, his job was to supervise the clones and to make sure everything was running smoothly. That doesn't mean, however, that he stood back and allowed others to do the work for him. He would keep an eye on each group and if a group needed extra hands, Naruto would come and personally assist.

The teamwork and efficient of the four Genin impressed both the client and their sensei. Even though Jōnin-sensei were supposed to just supervise, seeing how hard the Genin were working made them take a more active role on the mission. As for the client, after the job was done, they brought out refreshments and snacks as well as promised to pay for the equivalent of a B-ranked mission as a way to express their gratitude. At first, the Genin were unsure of the offer but the persistency of the client of refusing to take no as an answer made the four eventually accept.

After thanking their client for their hospitality, the six of them then made their way back to the Administration Office to give their report on a success mission. Since they still had plenty of time on their hands and the Genin had worked hard, the Jōnin decided to take a leisurely walk home since they deserve it. Taking point in the front was Anko and Naruto walking side by side. Bringing up the rear was Kurenai and in between were Hinata, Kiba, and Shino. The walk home was quiet to say the least since the three Genin were still wondering about Naruto's abilities while Kurenai, Anko, and Naruto were busy enjoying Mother Nature.

Deciding to ask the unasked question, "Hey Naruto." Naruto turns around to look at Kiba and noticed how Hinata and Shino were also looking at Kiba. "How exactly did you make those clones? They weren't like the normal clones we learned at the academy." Kiba asked in complete curiosity. Hinata and Shino, who also wanted to learn how Naruto was able to perform that technique, looked at him, waiting for his answer.

Naruto turns and look at Anko for advice. Anko, knowing what Naruto was asking, shrugged. "It's your secret gaki, not mine. You decide."

He took a moment to consider her words before nodding and taking a deep breath. Looking back at the trio, "I'm sorry but I can't tell you." He averted his gaze toward the ground and his eyes became distant. "It's just not something that I can share with just anyone." He then looks at the trio. "I promise that I'll tell you in the future. I'm just not ready right now." And returned his gaze forward.

Just as Kiba was about to retort, Kurenai suddenly spoke up. "I wouldn't do that." The trio turns around to look at their sensei. "Each shinobi is entitled to their own secrets. You can't expect someone to just tell you something that they're not ready to share. I know for a fact the three of your only told the team a minor secret and not a deep one." Said trio flinched slightly and averted their eyes away from each other. "See? That how Naruto feels. It's not that he doesn't trust you but rather he's afraid of your responses. Just give him time. He'll tell you when he's ready." The trio exchanged glances before returning forward and looking at the back of Naruto.

After a moment of silence, "A-ano... What a-are y-ou g-g-going to d-do Kiba?" asked Hinata, worried that Kiba might try and persuade Naruto to open up.

Kiba turns to look at Hinata before returning forward. "Nothing. You heard with Kurenai-sensei said. Naruto will tell us when he's ready, he even said that himself. Besides," Kiba turns toward Hinata. "Naruto is my pal. I know for a fact he'll tell me when he's ready. But until then, I won't do anything to convince him otherwise." He shook his head and looked forward. "I'd do the same thing if I was in his place. I'll wait until he's ready."

Shino observed Kiba for a moment before lifting his glasses and nodding in consent. Hinata smiled at Kiba's decision and Shino's agreement before looking at Naruto. _'And whenever you're ready, I'll be here,' v_owed Hinata.

Naruto, having heard what Kiba had said and having felt how Shino and Hinata were in agreement with him, smiled a warm smile. _'Thank you... I promise that when the time comes, I'll tell you everything. But until then, please. Just bear with me.'_

* * *

"... And that how the mission went, Hokage-sama," reported Kurenai, still with a hint of disbelief in her voice from what she had seen Naruto do. A moment of silence was taken as the Hokage absorbed all of the information before chuckling while holding his pipe in his hand.

"Like I've said before Kurenai-san, Naruto-kun here will do things that will surprise you." The smile on his face never left. Kurenai's lips twitched upward slightly as she nodded in agreement. "Unless you have anything more to add, you are all free to go."

Anko turns to face Naruto. "So gaki, what do you want to do next?" she asked.

Naruto hummed while placing a hand under his chin before digging into his pouch and pulling out the schedule that Anko made for him. "Well," Naruto opens the scroll and starts reading the plans for week. "It says here that we won't be doing any mission for the rest of the week and will be training on Training Ground 44." Naruto looks up at Anko. "Do you think we can do another mission, Anko-chan?" he asked.

Anko shrugged. "I don't see why not." She turns back to face the Sandaime. "Another D-ranked mission please jiji!" Anko requested with a grin. Kurenai shook her head at Anko's antics while her team were surprised and yet not surprised to hear Naruto's sensei call the Hokage by that name.

The Hokage merely chuckled. _'Sometime the two of them are one and the same,' _he mused. "Alright Anko-chan." He looks at Kurenai. "And you, Kurenai-san? Would you like another mission as well?"

Kurenai shook her head. "No thank you, Hokage-sama. I think I'll dismiss them for today. We'll come back tomorrow.' The Hokage nodded. "We'll be taking our leave now." Kurenai bowed and said her goodbyes to Team 11 before heading toward the door. Her team mimicked her actions before dismissing themselves as well.

"Now then," the Hokage began to scour through a box of scrolls. "Let see here. We have requests to help clean an abandon house, help with building constructions, preparing the crops for harvest, deliver packages to-"

"Ano, ojii-san?" interrupted Naruto.

Anko and the Hokage turns to face Naruto. "What is it?" he asked.

"I've been thinking and I was wondering if I can use my clones to perform multiple missions at the same time," replied Naruto.

Anko and the Sandaime blinked before exchanging glances and turning back to Naruto. "Well," he started. "If you think you can handle the collective fatigue then you have my permission. We receive an overabundant supply of D-ranked missions on a daily basic and they're starting to take up a lot of spaces. If you want to make this a regular routine then I'll leave a note in the Administration Office to allow you to take on multiple tasks at the same time." The Sandaime exhales a puff of smoke. "Tell me Naruto, for what purpose do you want to do so many missions at once?" the Hokage asked in curiosity while Anko look at her apprentice with the same expression.

Naruto shifted nervously and averted his gaze before answering. "I need the money." Was the simple response.

Anko and the Sandaime's eyes widen a fraction before they exchanged glances and nodded to each other. Returning his attention to Naruto, "Very well." Naruto perked up. "I'll leave a note saying that from now on, you'll be accepting multiple missions as once. I trust that you know your limit so that I won't have to place a restriction on how many you can complete per day?" asked/demanded the Hokage with a stern look.

Naruto shook his head and gave a wide smile. "Don't worry about it jiji! I know my limits. I promise that I won't over do it!" Naruto exclaimed. He then blinked and turns toward Anko. "So what are you going to do Anko-chan? I mean, I'm pretty sure you don't want tag along with me when I'm on several missions at once."

Anko nodded. _'You got that right gaki. My time of doing D-ranked missions has long passed,'_ she mused. "Well, I'll accompany the real you on missions from time to time when I'm not working at the T&amp;I building. I still have to fulfill my role as your Jōnin-sensei which mean I'll still have to supervise and teach you. You do realize that you have to be there in person while we're on joint mission correct?"

Naruto shrugged. "I kind of figured that one out. Not that I mind though. It gets pretty boring working by yourself all the time."

Anko raised her eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean gaki? Do you not like working with little ole me?" She gave Naruto her trademark grin.

Naruto quickly and repeated shook his head while waving his hands. "No! Of course not Anko-chan! It just that, ano," Naruto begin to back away as Anko approaches him. Turning toward the Hokage, "Hey jiji! A little help here?" he pleaded.

Said person just smiled at the scene before him as Naruto drew closer and closer into the corner. Sighing, "Alright Anko-chan, that's enough. Please refrain from harming him at the moment." Anko pouted and reluctantly back away from Naruto. Naruto out a breath of relief and joined Anko as they stood in front of the Hokage's desk. "Now, how many missions would you like to take Naruto-kun?"

Naruto thought about it for a moment before replying. "I think about seven should be enough. I don't want to end up working overnight since I'm spending a week at Training Ground 44 so I want to have a good night's sleep."

The Hokage nodded at his reasoning. _'Trust me Naruto-kun. You're going to need all the help you can get if you're spending a week there.'_ His eyes shifted toward Anko and noticed an evil gleam in her eyes that went unseen by Naruto. He inwardly sweat dropped at his misfortune. "Very well." He reach into the box and randomly pulls out seven scrolls. "Seven D-ranked missions as requested. I wish you the best of luck Naruto-kun." He gave Naruto a grandfatherly smile.

"Thanks ojii-san!" Naruto quickly grabbed all of the scrolls and made a dash out of the office so that he could get started and finish them as soon as possible.

After Naruto had left, the Sandaime turns to face Anko. Sighing, "If only his parents had lived..." he trailed off.

Anko's eyes soften and she nodded in agreement. "I know. When I was a kid, I was an orphan just like him. I didn't have a family to support me so I had to fend for myself, until HE came along..." Anko's eyes darken as she reminisced the past. "It wasn't until I made Chūnin that I was able to have enough income for all necessaries. The gaki is fortunate that he is able to make those clones of his or else he'll struggle more than he is now." Anko shook her head. Looking at the Hokage, "But I wouldn't worry too much about him. He's as tough as it gets. Who else could take that much abuse and stay sane? I know I couldn't. I'd probably lose it and started leaving bodies in front of the hospital." She chuckled bitterly at the end.

The Sandaime merely nodded at her statement. Deciding to change the topic, "You sure he's ready for that place?" he asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

Anko waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it jiji. The gaki's tough. He can handle himself. Beside, by training there, he'll leap bounds ahead of his classmates." Anko gave the Hokage a reassuring smile.

He exhales. "Very well. I trust your judgement. Am I correct to assume you won't be taking a direct approach in bringing him there?" A hint of amusement was in his voice as he asked Anko.

Anko's smirk was the only answer he needed.

* * *

When Naruto had requested seven missions earlier, he never expected the fatigue to be this huge. He supposed it was due to the fact it wasn't the first time today that he used several groups of clones at the same time. While the joint mission did leave him slightly winded, the seven mission took their tolls on him. Most of it was basically physical labor which demanded Naruto to lift heavy objects with his clones. He ended up going with the group to a construction site where the workers needed someone to help carry supplies to areas while they themselves were setting up the materials to start building. The other missions involved transporting large quantity of water from the river back to storage, raking leaves, clearing debris, cleaning house, assisting a store owner, and trimming the lawn.

While the paid was good, the collective fatigue he stored up wasn't. It had taken Naruto and his clones about five hours to finally finish all seven missions and, due to the clones being out for a long period of time, Naruto was almost knocked unconscious when he dispelled the first group. It took Naruto awhile to be able to dismiss all of them and even when he did, he still had trouble standing up after assuming the regular meditative position. He stopped by the Ichiraku Ramen stand on his way to filed in his mission reports at the Administration Office before heading home.

Dragging his feet across the ground, Naruto slowly made his way home. The sun was already gone and the moon has risen. Several lights were out as people began to turn in for the night. Walking up the stairs to his apartment, he turns the knob, opened the door, and walked inside. Searching on the wall with his hands, he eventually found the light switch and flipped it upward. The light momentarily blinded him as his eyes began to slowly adjust. Once he could see, he took off his clothes and walked into the bathroom with his pajamas to do his bedtime routine. 20 minutes later, he came out and lay on his bed with a sigh, enjoying the feel of finally having some rest. Closely his eyes, he allowed sleep to overcome him. As he entered the world of dreams, the apartment door creaked opened and a figure slowly made their way toward his sleeping form.

* * *

**The Next Morning...**

Feeling the sun's heat on his face and the light in his eyes, he lifted his left arm to cover his face as he slowly began to get up. Stretching his body and letting out a big yawn in the process, he opens his eyes to observe his surroundings. Blinking a few time and pinching himself, he came to the conclusion it wasn't a dream. Expecting to wake up in the comforts of his room, he found himself wondering how he ended up in the middle of an unknown forest. Looking around, he saw that he was no longer sleeping on a bed but rather the ground and the only things in sight were his equipment and a note attached to a tree with a kunai acting as a pin.

Getting himself up and dusting the dirt off, he made his way over to the note. Pulling out the kunai, he took the note and began to examine it. His eyes widen and he began to frantically search the area for his sensei. Not sensing her anywhere in the area, he returned his attention to the note to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

_Dear Gaki,_

_As you can probably tell, you are no longer in your room. This area is Training Ground 44 otherwise known as The Forest of Death. We will be spending the week here in my little playground on a camping trip. This area is filled with dangerous wildlife and hazardous environment not to mention the local residence of one Anko Mitarashi. Your task is to survive in this unknown land while the inhabitants test you on your performance. This trip is designed to allow you the experience the perils behind unknown territory as well as being accustomed to fear. I suggest you get used to this place because we'll be spending A LOT of time here _(Naruto could feel her sadistic smirk when she wrote that sentence)_._

_Now, don't be upset that I sneak you into my playground. I did say we were going to train here. I just never said when _(now Naruto could see her grin)_. A shinobi must always be aware of their surroundings. Consider me putting you here without your knowledge as punishment for your lack of awareness. I had the courtesy of leaving you a book on edible plants as well as how to hunt so I suggest you use them to your advantage. Enough chit-chat. Your camping trip is starting. Best of luck gaki._

_Yours truly,_

_The one and only Anko Mitarashi._

_P.S: Oh and one more piece of advice: Just don't die._

Crumpling up the piece of paper, he threw it as hard as he could in a random direction. "Of all the things..." Closing his eyes and taking in deep breaths he managed to calm himself down. Sighing, "Might as well get this over with," he muttered. He made his walk toward his gear and noticed the two book that Anko mentioned. Not feeling like reading at the moment, he stuffed the books into his backpack and equipped all of his gear save for his kodachi that he decided to hold in his left hand.

Hearing some rustling to the right, he turns toward the noise. "Anko-chan?" he asked with a hint of hope in his voice.

There was no answer but the rustling continued prompting Naruto to have his hand on his kodachi and ready to draw at a moment notice. As the rustling came closer and closer, he readied himself for the expected encounter, though it was something he wasn't expecting. Out of the bush came a giant, eight foot, yellow furred with brown strips tiger bearing his teeth and growling at Naruto.

Upon seeing the size of the tiger, he slowly began to back away. "Nice kitty..." he started. Said feline approached even closer and bared their teeth even more at the nickname. Not wanting to become the tiger's chew toy, Naruto quickly popped a smoke bomb and took off to the trees. Taking a glance behind him, he noticed the tiger hot on his heels and gaining ground. Cursing under his breath, he picked up his pace and began performing fancy maneuvers between each branches in hope of throwing the feline off course.

Unaware of how close it was getting, Naruto continued what he been doing until a sharp pain came from his rear end. Letting out a yelp of pain and picking up even more speed, he looked behind and saw three claw marks across his pants. Turning around screaming at the top of his lungs, "DAMN YOU, YOU PSYCHO SNAKE LADY!" His voice echoed throughout the forest as birds began to take off to the sky.

Outside the forest, said kunoichi was sitting on a boulder eating dangos and drinking sweet bean soup as the sounds of Naruto's screams reached her ears. Wiping her lips, she then broke out her signature grin. "Looks like the party's just getting started."

* * *

**Revised 6/13/2015 - Minor changes and added arc.**

**Revised 1/1/2016 – grammar, spelling, and all that good stuff. Kit is changed to brat.**

**Name: Naruto Uzumaki**

**Age: 12**

**Birthday: October 10th**

**Rank: D-**

**Titles: Genin, Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead, Prankster King from Hell, Jinchuriki, Demon Child, Blond Menace, Boss, Gaki, Brat**

**Affiliation: Konohagakure**

**Taijutsu: E+**

**Ninjutsu: D***

**Genjutsu: E**

**Kenjutsu: D**

**Fuinjutsu: E+***

**Other Skills: C-***

**Money: 87,000 ryō***

*** signifies changes. The titles will be there until people stop calling him that, which could take awhile.**

**Sorry about the lateness on posting this chapter. I originally planned on posting this 2 weeks ago but ran out of time. Spring break was over so I had to go back to get my education and all of that crap. So not many changes in Naruto's stats expect for money. I did some more research and learn the going rate for missions. Hence why the giant leap in money from the previous chapter to this one. One D-ranked mission is paid 5,000-50,000. I went back to my previous chapters and change that as well. I'm a perfectionist and like to be as accurate as I can so I go for the small details. It's a habit .-. Not yet BETAed.**

**Ninjutsu stat increase because he learned a new technique and is becoming closer to mastering the Shadow Clones. Added fuinjutsu because I'm pretty sure readers wanted to know his progress. I know I do. The Other Skills category is composed of stuff like dodge, evade, intelligence, calligraphy, analyze skills, etc. It's basically the average of all of those combined. Just for those curious as to how I do the Other Skills thing.**

**The whole time thing in this chapter took some time to plan since I wanted it to be as realistic as I could.**

**In case you're wondering about teams 1-11, Team 5 is Kabuto's team (not said what team he was on so I gave him a random number), Team 9 is Gai's team, and I just had to put a few Jōnin names in there so Genma, Aoba, and Raidou never actually had a team in the anime or manga.**

**Naruto learning the Body Flicker was something I believed to be useful to him. Of course, explaining the reason for choosing so in Anko's explanation was pretty difficult. Thank you BETA tester SRB!**

**I'm not sure if I mentioned this before so I'll mention it here. The reason why I'm having Naruto act considerate toward his clones is because of that one **_**Naruto Shippuden**_** filler episode where Naruto realized that each of his clones had a personality of their own as well as feelings. I think it was episode 220, **_**Revenge of the Shadow Clones**_**, or something.**

**I'm basically making stuff up about the Shadow Clones Technique .-. it sounds really good and true so... Just putting it out there.**

**Naruto's signature Body Flicker involving orange and black leaves was based off of hazeleyes180's **_**Outfoxed**_** story. I liked their idea because it matches with Naruto's outfit and the image of it in my head appears very Halloween ish.**

**Joint missions was a suggestion by one of my readers. The only reason why I picked Naruto to start off with Team 8 was because the Inuzuka and Aburame clan's background in other fanfic showed that they were loyal and Hinata will be there for Naruto no matter what. Basically, if Naruto gain the members of Team 8's loyalties, he'll have friends he can count on. Team 10 with Asuma... he's laid back and probably wouldn't start on missions on the second day. According to the anime, Kakashi started the team 7's survival test on the second day and missions on the third day, therefore, he was out of the question. Kurenai was more responsible than the both of them so she was the winner.**

**The way the characters were portrayed in my story is based on the actual canon. For example, Hinata still has a crush on Naruto and Ino and Sakura are still fangirls at this point. They will change later on, just not right now.**

**"Objii-san" was changed to "ojii-san" which is the actual honorific for grandfather. Changes were made to previous chapters as well. My Japanese sucks ok... Oh and "jiji" means old man.**

**I might have put too many restrictions on Naruto's growth which was why I changed the mental fatigue and usage of the shadow clones a bit to give him more free space. I still won't make him grow up too fast though but faster than before.**

**Fabricating missions was annoying but I had to do it since I know some readers wanted to know that little bit of information.**

**Anko placing Naruto in the Forest of Death while he's sleeping was something that interested me and I just had to use it as a closing.**

**Since I'm going back to school, I'm not sure when I'll post the next chapter. SRB and I are co-writing a story of our own so there's that. I apologize for not being able to get to wave like I promised but on the bright side, I'm planning on starting the Wave Arc after the next chapter :D Naruto is finally going to get some training and start changing his stats! It's set up pretty well so I'm planning on completing the "camping trip" next chapter and start on the Wave Arc. I've also updated my profile so now you can see where I'm at in the next chapter as well as how many words it will be. With the development over, I can proudly announce that things will pick up from now on. Well, hopefully. I HAVE been winging it so...**

**I'm also going to remove the poll. After pondering over the idea awhile, I've decided to take SRB's suggestion and make the main story pairing free. After the main story is complete, I'll write 4 chapters worth of pairings. This is what I'm planning: throughout the main story, Naruto will interact with ALL female characters. He will be on good terms with them and have a few cute scene but nothing more. AFTER the main storyline is completed, I'll go back and copy those cute scene but have different outcome. For example: if I write about Naruto saving Kurenai in the story (not sure if I will yet), I'll have them act professional and have Kurenai express her gratitude. After the story is complete, I'll have the same scene but have Kurenai confessing her feelings or something. I'll do this for ALL female characters even some that can switch (i.e maleKyubbi, femKyubbi) and those that have been killed off (No spoilers on who).**

**This eliminates the readers for not liking the story due to pairings and if there's a specific pairing they want to read about, they can skip through the rest and read the one they want. I'm thinking about devoting at least 2,000 words per pairing scene so that should make up for removing the poll. I won't be writing lemons and will be keeping this rated T until someone says otherwise and have a good reason for it. Down below is a sample of what I am planning on doing about the romance for those still confused.**

* * *

**Naruto x Kin**

**Yadda Yadda Yadda**

* * *

**Naruto x femHaku**

**Blah Blah Blah**

* * *

**^ that kind of stuff. It will be at least 2,000 words long and will feature Naruto x whatever female happens to be alive during the timeline. I'll separate the pairings into specific chapters based on where they're from, age, uniqueness, etc. It will help you search for the one you're looking for. I also might need a list of female characters that was featured in the anime/manga and those you want to read about so that I can add them here. Yeah I know. Sounds like a lot of work but I want a different Naruto version of the anime. Beside, this sounds really fun :P**

**That's all I have to say. Sorry about deleting the poll ._. I just figured that this way, everybody will get what they want.**

**Anyways, let me hear what you think! Until next time!**

**One last important note: I will be posting chapter 7 and chapter 8 at the same time. Chapter 7 is a filler and will cover Naruto's adventures in the Forest of Death for a week. Chapter 8 will involves the Wave Arc. Reason for posting two chapters at once is if someone doesn't want to read the filler, they can just skip to the next chapter.**


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